Wild dogs and dingoes

Background

Dingoes were introduced into Australia about 4000 years ago. At European settlement, dingoes were widespread in South Australia and they still roam freely across vast northern areas of the state.

There are purebred dingoes in the south of the state, and interbreeding between dingoes and domestic dogs has resulted in hybrid (part-bred) dingoes. In this area, dingoes, hybrids, and wild domestic dogs are all called ‘wild dogs’.

The Dog Fence

In 1946, the Dog Fence was constructed in South Australia to keep wild dogs out of sheep grazing areas. It protects the sheep industry, which is at greatest risk of wild dog attacks.

Managing wild dogs and dingoes depends on their location relative to the fence:

• inside (south of) the Dog Fence, wild dogs are a pest declared for destruction
• outside (north of) the Dog Fence, dingoes are listed as unprotected native wildlife, valued for their cultural and ecological roles.

Impacts

Managing wild dogs is essential for South Australia’s livestock industries, as grazing sheep is impossible where wild dogs are present.

Wild dogs often kill more than they eat because they enjoy chasing, maiming and killing livestock. They can also:

• spread disease
• kill domestic pets.

Many landholders suffer emotional and psychological trauma, in addition to severe financial losses, when livestock are attacked by wild dogs.

Outside of the Dog Fence, dingoes are only controlled when they impact the pastoral cattle industry and human safety. Their ecological role in those systems includes:

• preying on native and non-native animals, such as kangaroos, wombats and rabbits
• mediating populations of some overabundant species, such as kangaroos.

Government support programs

South Australian pastoralists and their regional communities have been severely affected by drought. Wild dogs in these regions cause injury and death to livestock, with a national impact of $90 million per year.

The SA Government has responded to the problem of wild dogs by introducing these programs:

• trapper program – to trap elusive wild dogs inside the Dog Fence
• baiting program – for broadscale wild dog control inside the Dog Fence
• $25 million rebuild of the Dog Fence – to prevent incursions of wild dogs inside the Dog Fence.

In addition, PIRSA manages a bounty scheme, where drought affected landholders can recover $120 per wild dog.

Managing wild dogs

Inside the Dog Fence, landholders are required to control dogs on their properties under the Landscape South Australia Act 2019.

Owners of the Dog Fence must also destroy wild dogs in the vicinity of the fence under the Dog Fence Act 1946.

Wild dogs can be controlled by:

• baiting (such as the SA Arid Lands Biteback program)
• humane trapping (SA trapper program)
• shooting (SA bounty scheme).

To discuss control options, contact your local landscape board.

SA Wild Dog Management Strategy 2023–2033