About Alpine Dingoes
In July 2025 I photographed my first group of Alpine Dingoes, or Waragul and I was immediately captivated by them. This page is intended as an information resource about these beautiful animals.
Wild dogs, dingoes and Alpine Dingoes - what’s in a name?
Wild Dogs? - The term ‘wild dog’ has evolved over time. In the early days of European settlement in Australia, the term wild dog was used regularly, without any pejorative meaning. It was a way of describing a dingo as a dog-like creature, like the Cape Hunting Dogs and other wild canids that Europeans were familiar with.
In modern times, however, its meaning has become less clear. This site reflects the current confusion about the term ‘wild dog’ where it groups dingoes, feral domesticated dogs and hybrids as all being ‘wild dogs’. That means signs in Namdgi National Park warning of 1080 poison use to control wild dogs are also targeting dingoes.
The ACT’s own site on dingoes or the Waragul, shows a different story. In 2024-25 Dr Kylie Cairns tested 50 samples from Namadgi National Park and found that 47 returned as pure dingo DNA. Two had greater than 93% dingo DNA and one was a feral dog. Likewise, Misha, an Alpine Dingo at the National Zoo and Aquarium, which was originally taken from Namadgi by well-meaning people who thought it was a dumped pet, had 100% dingo DNA.
This is in line with the most recent genetic study on dingoes, that used pre-European arrival dingo DNA as a baseline. “Our findings imply that the vast majority of modern dingoes only carry a small fraction of European dog ancestry, suggesting the usage of the term “wild dog” is unlikely to be appropriate for most free-living canine populations in Australia.” (Ravishankar)
It is worth considering Tasmania in this debate. If wild dogs were a threat across Australia, then Tasmania should be over run with wild dogs because the dingo never crossed into Tasmania. However, that is not the case, and the official Tasmanian Government website says this:
In Tasmania, small packs of wild dogs are occasionally identified in remote rural locations or isolated areas of crown and reserved land, such as World Heritage Area land in the Central Highlands. However, the problem is not regarded as being widespread. Dogs at large are considered to be a larger problem in Tasmania, especially in urban and peri-urban areas (Tasmanian Government).
What’s the scientific name? - Usually, the scientific name is the specific name for the species and common names vary depending on location, culture, etc. Because of the contested origins of the dingo, its scientific name is also contested. The IUCN and ICZN, the international bodies for conservation and zoological naming respectfully, both use Canis lupus dingo. And Breckwoldt confirmed this as late as December 2023 (Breckwoldt). This term emphasises the wolf lineage of the dingo, so it is not just a domesticated dog. However, in Australia, the term Canis familiaris dingo is often used, which classes it as breed of domesticated dog. The Australian Museum, in a 2017 article notes this controversy, also discussing that the dingo has been termed Canis dingo, a distinct species, but ultimately the Museum uses Canis familiaris dingo (Eldridge). The article explains the reasoning behind that decision but also notes that dingo is early breed of dog, which should not diminish its scientific, cultural and ecological significance. In a 2026 book the author reviews the current research noting that dingoes separated from the line of domestic dogs before the domestication took place and have developed differently since then, lacking a number of the genes of domestic dogs (Smith). Again, looking at Tasmania, which doesn’t have any wild dingoes, the Tasmanian Government page on wild dogs, for dingoes, it uses Canis lupus dingo, possibly because that state doesn’t have to worry about the politics behind different scientific terms.
I use Canis lupus dingo, in line with the IUCN and ICZN, a name that is getting more support as scientists uncover more of the DNA history of dingoes (Cairns).
Dingoes or Alpine Dingoes? - Really, both terms are correct, and I like using the term Alpine Dingo because that is the type of dingo that I encounter when I see them in Namadgi. There is also scientific evidence to justify using the term Alpine Dingo. The graphic below is taken from Ravishankar with the green showing Alpine Dingoes as a distinct genetic cluster. They are not a distinct species or sub-species but at the genetic level scientists can tell they are from the Alpine region of Australia. So yes, they are definitely still dingoes, and they could be described as dingoes from the Australian alpine region, but calling them Alpine Dingoes just seems so much easier. Certainly, we could also use the Ngunnawal word, Waragul, as well.
The origins of the dingo
The origins of the dingo is also linked to discussions about its name. Did it arrive in Australia as a domesticated animal that went wild, and so is just a domesticated dog? Bradley Smith’s 2026 book on the dingo has an interesting hypothesis about the dingo’s travels based on the latest generic data.
The Wallace Line, the imaginary line named by the naturalist Alfred Wallace, that separates Asia from the Melanesia, is reflected geogrpahically by wide straits through Indonesia, some of which are very deep. It is possible, but unlikely, that dingoes, or their ancestors, made it across those gaps without human help. DNA suggests that this happened before those canids were domesticate, so a semi-wild group of canids came across with humans.
While fossils confirm that dingos were in Australia roughly 3000 to 3500 years ago, those remains are all from the southern part of Australia. It is likely that dingoes occupied the continent quickly and also likely that dingoes arrived well before the dating of those remains. No aboriginal rock, which has been reliably dated, shows dingoes prior to 4000-5000 years ago. By synthesizing all the available data, it is possible that dingoes could have arrived in Australia as early as 12 000 years ago.
DNA indicates that the dingoes descended from a small group of animals that arrived in Australia, as early as 10 800 years ago, although the majority of DNA studies centre of 5000 to 8000 years ago. While the dingo has shared genetics with village dogs of Southeast Asia, its closest living relative is the wild New Guinea Singing Dog, and both form a lineage distinct from those village dogs. Indeed, the dingo lacks the genetics associated with domestication, and potentially split from that lineage about 10 000 to 12 000 years ago (Smith).
The leading hypothesis for dingo arrival in Australia was from Southeast Asian seafarers that transported it here. Possibly as a trading network or for assistance. But why only the dingo, why not other forms of livestock? Also, DNA shows a small or single arrival, not multiple waves, which would be likely if seafarers were regularly trading or transporting dingoes.
Smith’s hypothesis is that after human-assisted dispersal into New Guinea these wild canids, not a wolf but not a dog, gradually dispersed through New Guinea and then reached the land bridge that still possibly existed between Cape York Peninsula and New Guinea, or were able to swim across the shot sea gaps between islands. The animals were likely a single group or a small number of groups. They then rapidly spread across Australia.
While we may never know exactly how dingoes arrived in Australia, Dr Smith’s hypothesis is grounded in the latest research, which was not available when the Southeast Asia seafarers idea was first proposed. It may be time to reconsider the arrival of dingoes in Australia.
The Ngunnawal and the Waragul
Namadgee National Park contains the only publicly accessible Aboriginal rock art in the ACT, at Yankee Hat. A section of it is detailed to the left, showing two dingoes and a kangaroo. This art is a pre-European record by the Ngunnawal nation of the Alpine Dingo/Waragul being present in Namadgi. While the dingo did not evolve in Australia, neither did we humans, and non-Aboriginal Australians arrived in the area of the ACT well after the Waragul had already been here for thousands of years. We are more of an introduced species to this area than the dingo is.
The Ngunnawal, and other Aboriginal communities in the area that is now the ACT, saw the Waragul as part of their world. They raised the Waragul in the company of women and children, using it to assist with hunting, a living blanket and protection against invaders. (ACT Government).
Appearance
Interestingly, the widest part of the dingo anatomy is its head, so if its head can get through a crack, the dingo can. That is very useful for squeezing down the burrows of prey or back into a den. Its jaws are great for biting, ripping and tearing, but they can also be used for more delicate work, like biting berries from trees (Breckwoldt).
The appearance of Namadgi’s dingoes can confuse people who are expecting the well-known ginger variety. The Alpine Dingoes normally show a lot of cream, but also have a variety of other colours, including black and very mottled patterns. The image below, sourced from Wikipedia, was painted in 1772, 16 years before European settlement, and shows a dingo that was darker than most people would think of a dingo, but well before any interbreeding with domestic dogs could have occurred. So, dingoes that are not ginger coloured, have been in Australia well before the arrival of Europeans.
The male is larger than the female, and his reproduction organs are visible, but covered in fur between his hind legs. The female doesn’t have any easily visible sexual organs, and her waist, just before her hind legs appears slimmer than a male.
The Australian Museum gives the following figures for sizes, shoulder height: 440-620mm, body length: 860-1230mm, tail: 260-380mm, body mass: 12-24kg (Burrell).
The Alpine Dingo is a genetically distinct group of the dingo, but not a species or sub-species. In general, groups of dingoes in south-east Australia tend to be more genetically distinct because of environment barriers (Smith). This isolation has been compounded by man-made activity as well.
General information
In Namadgi, it appears that the dingoes stay in the major valleys of the park, and do not move out of them to interbreed. There may also be more than one pack in a valley, and if that is the case, the separate packs normally share the valley without resorting to conflict, possibly because of the plentiful food and water in the valleys. There are estimates of 20-50 dingoes per the four valleys, giving a rough estimate of approximately 200 dingoes in total across the park (Vandersteen Webinar).
Smelling is their key sense, and it is easy to observe dingoes sniffing the ground as they try to understand a scent.
The average lifespan of a dingo in the wild is about ten years.
Dingoes can run up to 48km/h (Smith), hence why humans have no chance to outrun and should instead attempt to exert dominance visually, as discussed below.
Dingo sounds
Dingoes make a variety of sounds, not just the howl, which is the sound most associated with a dingo. The video below is of a female howling.
Dingoes are known for their howling, and for many visitors to Namadgi, they will only hear that howling in the distance without ever seeing a dingo. The howling is probably a bonding activity across a long distance within a social group and doesn’t need a stimuli to occur. Different dingoes may even use different pitches to distinguish themselves. Some studies suggest that generally only males howl, with only alpha females howling as part a relationship with the alpha male (Breckwoldt).
Dingoes do bark, although it is short, and normally only done when they are warning other group members of a threat. They can combine a bark and howl, as a means to warn other dingoes, particularly when humans are around (Déaux). A bark-howl sounds like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnovxKphmss
Barks are often specific for the threat, with a different bark for a snake versus a different one for a scorpion, etc. And some Aboriginal groups believed that dingoes had a unique bark for warnings about spirits (Smith).
Dingoes moan and have an agitated cough as well. They can also communicate with their bodies, showing supplication to dominant dingoes. They can also show dominance in a group by arching their back, curling their lips, or raising their tails.
Food
Dingoes eat roughly 7% of their body weight each day, or about 1kg of food for the normal adult dingo (Breckwoldt). In Namadgi, Eastern Grey Kangaroos and Red-necked Wallabies are plentiful so dingoes mainly eat them. They will also eat birds and other small creatures, although this does not seem to be normal.
While dingoes can hunt in packs, they tend to hunt as individuals. Even when I have seen groups of dingoes out near kangaroos, I have only seen an individual dingo launch a chase after a kangaroo. During a chase, a joey may fall out of a pouch so even if the dingo doesn’t catch the adult, it may still get a feed.
For water, dingoes will obtain a lot of their requirements from their prey, although Namadgi also has plenty of rivers if the animals need to supplement it. With lactating females sometimes requiring extra liquid.
Young dingoes will start with milk from their mothers but will graduate to meat. Once they are hunting outside, initially they may target smaller animals like insects and birds, but as they grow they will focus on kangaroos (Breckwoldt).
The picture to the side shows a male, with the black head, and a female eating a recently killed kangaroo. In typical pack dynamics, the male ate first and then the female joined him. They mainly ate separate parts of the kangaroo, with the male seeming to favour the kangaroo’s stomach lining.
While it is unlikely that the dingoes in the core part of the park consume farm animals from the neighbouring properties, in other parts of southeast Australia they do. However, dingoes do still tend to favour native wildlife over farm animals, with farm animals making up less than 10% of examined dingo stomach contents. With most that being carrion from animals that were already dead. Dingoes, like other large carnivores, do sometimes kill in excess of requirements, although it is not clear if this happens in Namadgi (Breckwoldt).
Scat
What goes in, must come out. Sorry, if you are eating while reading this. The picture to the left shows a reasonably new scat. Healthy ones are dark, almost black. They also contain remnants of what the dingo has consumed, especially fur. For scientists, these are great finds because they can use DNA analysis to find out about the dingo, as well its food.
The presence of scat is also a good sign that there are dingoes around.
The Den
In Namadgi, dingoes have plenty of choices for dens. The granite rocks give stable locations for dens, which dingoes can improve them through their very good digging ability. These dens are probably normally used by the local pack, while the non-alpha females that are pregnant, will potentially search out areas under logs or trees, smaller places to breed in.
Dingoes will change dens regularly, although in Namadgi, they probably don’t move far. Scientists believe that dingoes choose den locations that are near water and plenty of food, which Namadgi has in abundance. Also, dingoes prefer an opening that doesn’t face the rising or middle of the day sun (Billabong Sanctuary).
The photo to the left shows a female Alpine Dingo that has just emerged from the den opening on the left. This den had three to four dingoes emerge from it, although more may have been inside.
Breeding
Breeding starts in April-June with a gestation period of about 63 days, meaning that litters of about four to five are born to coincide with the start of spring. Pups will consume milk for about two weeks, before pack members start regurgitating freshly eaten meat for the pups to consume. Shortly afterwards, they will start bringing back bits of fresh meat for the pups to try. After about three weeks pups will venture out of the den, and by eight weeks they are fully weaned and will leave the den for good. Females show the pups how to hunt and after about 16 weeks the pups are self sufficient. They may stay with the pack until the next breeding season, when they will leave. Dingoes are not normally sexually active until they are two years old (Billabong Sanctuary).
Generally, it is only the alpha male and alpha female that breed. Should a non-alpha female become pregnant, the alpha female may kill the pups. The non-alpha female may therefore try to hide her pups in an alternate den, but that is not normally successful.
Other members of the pack will assist the breeding pair by bringing food back to them and the pups.
Alpine Dingo management in Namadgi National Park
In May 2024, the ABC reported that the ACT didn’t know how many dingoes there were in Namadgi National Park, but that “…their data estimates approximately 33 dingoes have been trapped each year since 2010.” The same article also reported that 4000 baits laced with 1080 were placed around the periphery of the park over two five-week periods a year. In addition, there is also a trapping program in the peripheral or buffer zone around the edges of the park. Trapped dingoes are then shot. (Groves)
As of September 2026, the ACT Government is still reviewing its policy on dingoes, having acknowledged scientific research that the Alpine Dingoes or Waragul in Namadgi National Park are indeed dingoes, with very little feral dog hybridisation. Indeed, there are probably many pure DNA dingoes in the park. The current position of the ACT government is:
“The ACT Government is committed to recognising Waragul as a unique animal with important cultural and ecological value” (ACT Environment).
The current legislation, the Pest Plants and Animals Act 2005 uses the term wild dogs, which covers, dingoes/waragul, feral domestic dogs and hybrids between the two. The ACT Government declares dingoes as pest animals and rightly acknowledges that dingoes killing farm animals is not just an economic issue but it causes stress and anxiety for the farmer. So as to protect neighbouring farm holdings, the ACT government controls dingoes, including with lethal means, in the areas of Namadgi bordering farms. However, in the core part of Namadgi National Park, the emphasis is on the conservation of the Alpine Dingo.
The status review of dingoes in the ACT appears to be reflected in NSW as well. In May 2026, the Animal Welfare Committee of NSW Parliament began an inquiry into Dingoes in national parks in New South Wales (NSW Parliament). While this inquiry will not directly impact Namadgi National Park, however, because the park is part of the Australian Alps National Parks framework, this could allow for a similar change in policy across the NSW and the ACT in regards to Alpine Dingoes. The inquiry still has a long way to go to make any of its findings law, and dingoes are still very controversial in NSW. The inquiry has attracted over 400 submissions and there are passionate people on both side of the debate (Andre). However, the inquiry will examine the DNA evidence of the uniqueness of dingoes, which will hopefully lead to the removal of the term ‘wild dog’ in favour of calling them dingoes.
What to do if a dingo approaches you
While K’gari/Fraser Island has experienced deaths and dingo attacks, this has not been the case in Namadgi, where there have been no recorded attacks by dingoes on humans. There have been reports of dingoes following humans for an extended distance, but this could be because the humans turned there backs towards the dingoes, giving the impression to the dingo that they were weaker than the dingo.
Generally, dingoes tend to keep their distance from visitors, however, the dingoes in Namadgi are individual animals and respond differently to humans. Some dingoes, particularly females, have been noted approaching humans, sometimes to within ten metres. This is not necessarily a sign of aggression, it may be out of curiosity or to assess the level of threat posed by the human. Visitors view these dingoes as wild animals, and avoid approaching or interacting with the dingo. The dingo may misunderstand, and become aggressive. Take a photo but do not try to put a human in the photo with their back to the dingo. Let the dingo determine how much distance there will be between it and you.
Visitors should do the right thing and not feed dingoes. If people regularly feed wild dingoes, then the animal can start associating humans with food. While some visitors may find this harmless, if a person is not aware of this habituation, they could see an approaching dingo as a threat, and try to flee. Fleeing from a dingo can actually be dangerous, because it can trigger a hunting reflex in the dingo.
The the advice (as at 16 September 2026) from ACT Environment about what to do if a dingo approaches you is:
In the unlikely event of threatening behaviour:
stay alert but calm
do not run or wave your arms because it can trigger an attack
face the animal, stand still at full height, fold your arms across your chest, and keep eye contact with the animal.
calmly back away, and if you are with another person, stand back-to-back.
References and further information
If you are interested in seeing more photos of Alpine Dingoes, I have a dedicated gallery here
Books
Breckwoldt, Roland. (2025, 29 July). Dingo: The true story of Australia's most maligned native animal. Allen & Unwin.
Smith, Bradley P. (2026, 1 June). Canis Dingo: Understanding Australia’s Apex Predator. CSIRO Publishing.
Articles
Déaux, E. C. et al. Concatenation of ‘alert’ and ‘identity’ segments in dingoes’ alarm calls. Sci. Rep. 6, 30556; doi: 10.1038/srep30556 (2016)
Ravishankar, Shyamsundar and Nguyen, Nhi Chau. (2026, 13 April). Paleogenomics-Informed Inferences of European Dog Admixture Enables Scalable Dingo Conservation. Conservation Letters. https://doi.org/10.1111/con4.70052
Webpages
ACT Environment. (2026, 27 May). Waragul (Dingoes) / wild dogs. ACT Government. https://www.act.gov.au/environment/animals-and-plants/animals/wildlife-management/waragul-dingoes-wild-dogs
Andre, Julia. (2026, 8 SEptember). Community split on wild dog, dingo problem as NSW inquiry examines management options. ABC News. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09-08/debate-over-dingo-wild-dog-management-nsw-national-parks/107118112
Billabong Sanctuary Townsville. (No date). Dingo. Billabong Sanctuary Townsville. https://www.billabongsanctuary.com.au/dingo/
Burrell, Sue and Eldridge, Dr Mark. Dingo. Australian Museum. https://australian.museum/learn/animals/mammals/dingo/
Cairns, Kylie (et al). (2025, 22 August). Dingoes are not domestic dogs – new evidence shows these native canines are on their own evolutionary path. UNSW. https://www.unsw.edu.au/newsroom/news/2025/08/dingoes-not-domestic-dogs-new-evidence-shows-native-canines-are-on-own-evolutionary-path
Eldridge, Dr Mark, and Jackson, Dr Stephen. (2017, 11 September). Just what is Australia’s Dingo? Australian Museum. https://australian.museum/blog/amri-news/just-what-is-australias-dingo/
Groves, Emmy. (2024, 18 May). Dingoes date back thousands of years in Australia, but in the ACT they are also considered a pest. Now a researcher is trying to better classify them. ABC. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-05-18/namadgi-act-dingoes-are-rare-and-likely-unique/103825730
NSW Parliament. (2026). Dingoes in national parks in New South Wales. NSW Parliament. https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/parliamentary-business/committees/inquiry-details?committeeInquiryId=3185
Tasmanian Government. (2025, 17 March). Wild Dogs. Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania. https://nre.tas.gov.au/invasive-species/invasive-animals/invasive-mammals/wild-dogs
Videos
Terra Mater Studios. (2013). The Real Dingo. Terra Mater Studios. https://www.terramater.at/productions/the-real-dingo/ (video available from multiple pages on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGFvlR1Zm7A , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B79-Zy5r1oI , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vq-1c4z0ZBw , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzyC7EnVjc4)
Vandersteen, James. (2026, 19 August) Webinar: Understanding the Waragul (Dingo). ConservationACT. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tH4Czw1CwV4&t=1990s
Wild Bear. (2018). In the Wild - Return of the Dingo. Wild Bear. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44mYOqhhsqo , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dLwQMerdw4