Big Desert Dingo Research

After a four-year delay, the @Vic_Gov has released a disappointing response to the recommendations of an Expert Advisory Panel which reviewed the 1975 Wildlife Act, rejecting many critical and sensible recommendations. See our assessment: biodiversitycouncil.org.au/news/no-ambiti…

@colbert_marty I have never collected scats or scat swabs for Dr Kylie Cairns.

Let's Talk About Scat, Baby! 🐾 NW Vic dingo research ignores the real action beyond park boundaries—where culls & livestock hits spike. West Wimmera Action Group's probe on Cairns' 2023 study reveals scat secrets. Quick hooks: · Hybridization 101: Dingo-dog crosses dilute traits—>7% dog = recent; 55–93% dingo = historical. · Scat Dominance: 60–70% of NW Vic DNA from poop, claiming low hybrids (13% recent) & lifting 2024 unprotection. · Park Bias?: Inside focus misses outside culled aggressors—skewed purity? · Advocacy Ties: ADF funding & pro-dingo collaborators raise potential conflicts, no taint proven. Deep dive: Defining hybridization as dingo-domestic crossbreeding clarifies the stakes: Cairns' scat-reliant purity work (estimated at 60–70% scat in NW Vic, based on available disclosures) reframed dingoes as resilient natives, influencing policy shifts like the 2024 protections. Yet, the high scat percentage, sourced via advocacy-linked networks, suggests potential site biases toward low-hybrid zones—meriting independent metadata audits to ensure representativeness. In this polarised multi million $$ debate, no bias is proven, but revisiting raw data via third-party reanalysis is essential to ensure unfiltered genomic truth. Read our probe! 🔗 #DingoResearch #ScatScience #NWVic #Conservation

@colbert_marty You need to retract and publicly apologise to Dr Kylie Cairns and myself for these defamatory comments and outright lies.

@colbert_marty You obviously have not verified a thing or read Dr Cairns' 2023 study, because if you had, you'd know that study did not use scats samples or scat swabs at all. Insane that a REGISTERED CHARITY is deliberately misinforming the public and its members.

An image of a black dingo was used for a controversial council campaign, sparking an uproar from the photographer and advocates for the Australian native animal. au.news.yahoo.com/council-delete…

Dingo population estimates in Australia’s capital are so low a researcher is warning they could be on a “trajectory towards extinction”. A true population figure isn't known, but a gov survey concluded there are a minimum of 49 dingoes in Namadgi NP. au.yahoo.com/news/warning-c…

@johngbennett @Steve_Dimo Please remember, John, sheep and cows are not part of any ecosystem in Australia. Dingoes are.

@bigdesertdingo @Steve_Dimo Not at all. The system has been in balance for 100 years with judicious control of rogue dingos that left the park. The wanton killing and maiming of livestock has only occurred after the unprotection order was lifted. That’s an irrefutable fact.

This is extremely graphic. Activists with no knowledge of local ecosystems were instrumental in preventing control of dingoes in NW Vic in 2024. Since then 1 local farmer alone has recently lost 400 lambs to dingo attack. @Steve_Dimo please don’t turn your back on rural Victoria

@johngbennett @Steve_Dimo It's not "balance" when the dingo population is on the verge of extinction, is it John?

@stationmum101 We've hired many during harvest. They're generally the most reliable and will listen to what they're told. We've also had many return for consecutive years.

Has anyone had any experience hiring grey nomads? How much can you pay them?

@jdwb84v8 @johngbennett @DEECA_Vic @VicFarmers @farmer_dj @NationalFarmers @HoskingBrett Oh gee, I wonder.. Maybe the attitudes of local farmers? The very real threat of retaliation? Just an FYI though, no one has to disclose any animals they own except to relevant authorities. Why is this an issue now? People in the Wimmera-Mallee have owned dingoes for years.

@bigdesertdingo @johngbennett @DEECA_Vic @VicFarmers @farmer_dj @NationalFarmers @HoskingBrett Why the secrecy? Seems a complete lack of transparency

Lots happening in the little desert including discovery of a dingo breeding program with dingos seen in the wild in previous mths. No consultation and dire consequences for the farming community and wildlife recovering from devastating fires. Where are the relevant authorities?

@johngbennett @colbert_marty @NationalFarmers @VicFarmers @VicGovAg @DEECA_Vic This shows how uneducated you are. Dingoes once existed in the Grampians and Little Desert long before your ancestors claimed stolen land and cleared. Colonisation is responsible for the localised extinction of dingoes across most of Victoria.

@NationalFarmers @VicFarmers @VicGovAg @DEECA_Vic Dingo advocates intent on introducing dingos into previously uninhabited areas including Little Desert,Grampians and Otways and confirmed local dingo sightings has prompted a community meeting to highlight the issues.Retweet

@simon_finlayson @johngbennett @DEECA_Vic @VicFarmers @farmer_dj @NationalFarmers @HoskingBrett They were captive dingoes.

@johngbennett @DEECA_Vic @VicFarmers @farmer_dj @NationalFarmers @HoskingBrett Well I won’t put it politely. Holy fuckin shit, what mentally unstable dipshit would think this is a grand idea. Don’t get me wrong love seeing a good Dingo…. On the north side of the Dingo fence. Can only hope the fire has annihilated them.

@Tom_Rymill @johngbennett @DEECA_Vic @VicFarmers @farmer_dj @NationalFarmers @HoskingBrett Privately owned. All LEGAL and NEVER a threat to anyone or their livestock. All a non-story whipped up into hysteria.

@johngbennett @DEECA_Vic @VicFarmers @farmer_dj @NationalFarmers @HoskingBrett Was this some ransom private person breeding them there, or was it a Govt program? Unbelievable either way and little wonder there’s a wild dog problem there!

@chelseadahlen @johngbennett @DEECA_Vic @VicFarmers @farmer_dj @NationalFarmers @HoskingBrett Lol. Privately kept animals.. None of your business. End of story.

@johngbennett @DEECA_Vic @VicFarmers @farmer_dj @NationalFarmers @HoskingBrett Those responsibility for the dingos are being very tight lipped about everything. Raises a lot of questions.

@DingoResearch @Litoriaraniform @UniNewEngland Happy to send you the raw footage if this is the bs about dingoes in Little Desert.

@Litoriaraniform @UniNewEngland My gut reaction was ‘it looks like a dog’. You might argue for fox but I think there are subtleties re the muzzle and top of chest that make dog more likely. Tough one! Why were ppl interested in what it was?

A #dingo in the mist. Autumn scene from Oxley Wild Rivers National Park c/o Practical Ecology Science & Technology Group @UniNewEngland

@Chel_Simmonds @theweeklytimes A response to your appalling "article" yesterday. Do you even fact check? Or just believe everything farmers tell you? 🤦‍♀️ #dingoes #fakenews

My first PhD chapter has just been published (publish.csiro.au/WR/WR24117), and I wrote an article for the @ConversationEDU about the important implications for ongoing 1080 baiting in Australia 🦊 Check it out below!

#Dingoes NOT #WildDogs #Native NOT #Invasive End the #NationalWildDogActionPlan Remove the #DingoFence #LetDingoesLive