--- title: "Dingo (Canis familiaris) | AnimalTracks.wiki" description: "Australia's largest land predator, which rarely barks: it howls to call its pack and marks its territory with scent." image: "https://animaltracks.wiki/images/animals/dingo-1.webp" published: "2026-09-01" updated: "2026-09-14" --- # Dingo (*Canis familiaris*) > **Status**: Checked against 9 sources, listed under Sources below. > **Tagline**: Australia's largest land predator, which rarely barks: it howls to call its pack and marks its territory with scent. > **Soundtrack Vibe**: Aussie Garage Punk & Pub Rock // The Chats, "Smoko" > **Soundtrack Links**: [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/track/5nw2rQXAjfpZNaMzAJ8qTX) | [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ph5qTBZAjGs) > **Vibe Match**: Raw, irreverent pub punk with a high-voltage tempo for a dog that rarely barks: it howls, particularly at night, to call its pack together or warn off intruders. ## Biological Superpowers & Stats - **Taxonomy**: *Canis familiaris* - **Danger Level**: Deadly - **Conservation Status**: Vulnerable ([IUCN Red List](https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2008.rlts.t41585a10484199.en)) - **Superpower**: Rarely barks. It howls to call its pack together or warn off intruders, and marks the edges of its territory with scent: rubbing, urinating and defecating on objects. - **Habitat**: A wide range of habitats on mainland Australia, from desert to its preferred woodland and grassland near forest edges, limited only by access to water. It never reached Tasmania, and is now mostly absent from many parts of the south-east - **Diet**: Mostly mammals, especially rabbits, kangaroos, wallabies and wombats; farm livestock when native prey is scarce, and failing that reptiles, birds, insects and whatever else it can find - **Tags**: canid, grassland, desert, woodland, carnivore ## Natural History & Behavior ## An Apex Predator With an Unsettled Name Scientists have argued over the dingo's scientific name since the late 18th century, when it was named three times in quick succession: *Canis familiaris dingo* in 1780, *Canis antarticus* in 1792 and *Canis dingo* in 1793. It has also been called *Canis lupus dingo*, which makes it a subspecies, or distinct population, of *Canis lupus*, the grey wolf. In 2017, Jackson and colleagues proposed calling every free-ranging dog in the world, dingo included, *Canis familiaris*, the domestic dog, arguing that the case for *Canis dingo* held up neither under the rules for naming animals nor on the genetic and body-shape evidence. In 2019, Smith and colleagues replied that the dingo is its own species, *Canis dingo*: genetically, physically and behaviourally distinct from every other member of its genus (the group of closely related species it belongs to), and appearing to still live largely as a wild animal. The Australian Faunal Directory, a checklist of Australia's animals, lists the dingo under the domestic dog's name, *Canis familiaris*, and so does the Queensland government. The Australian Museum's factsheet, updated in 2026, goes further and lists the dingo as a breed. This page uses *Canis familiaris* too. An adult dingo stands 44 to 62 cm at the shoulder, weighs 12 to 24 kg, and can live for up to 10 years. It is Australia's largest land predator, and an apex predator: a hunter at the top of its food chain. ## What's on the Menu A dingo's diet is built around mammals, especially rabbits, kangaroos, wallabies and wombats. When native species are scarce, it will hunt domestic animals and farm livestock, and failing that, it eats reptiles, insects, birds and any other food it can find. It scavenges at night and hunts alone, but forms larger packs to hunt bigger game. One study looked at 5,875 scats (droppings) collected across Victoria, in south-eastern Australia, between 1983 and 2014, from dingoes, other wild dogs and their hybrids, whose scats can't be told apart. The key mammal foods in them were black wallabies, brushtail possums, common wombats, sambar deer, cattle and European rabbits. Dingoes are also thought to have contributed to the extinction of the thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger, on the Australian mainland, by competing with it for food. ## A Territory Marked in Scent A dingo occupies a clearly defined territory it leaves rarely and will defend against other dingoes, though territory is known to be shared when dingoes form packs to hunt. > **A howl, seldom a bark.** Dingoes rarely bark. They howl, especially at night, to call pack members together or warn off intruders. They also communicate with scent, rubbing, urinating and defecating on objects to mark the edges of their territory. ## A Gene Pool Under Pressure The main threat to dingoes today is contact with domestic dogs. As towns spread into the outback, the two interbreed more often, which will dilute the dingo's gene pool (the mix of genes a population carries). An Australia-wide genetic study, published in 2011 and 2015 and summarised in a 2019 review, found that 46% of the dingoes sampled had no dog ancestry. The south-east, with its dense human settlement and best farmland, had the most mixing: only 1 to 4% of the animals tested there showed no sign of dog ancestry in their genes. On the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the dingo is still listed as Vulnerable under the name *Canis lupus* ssp. *dingo*, in an assessment from 2008. The Red List now marks that concept as no longer recognised, and the assessment as needing an update. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Is the dingo a dog, a wolf, or its own species? Scientists have argued over that since the late 18th century, when the dingo was named three times in quick succession: Canis familiaris dingo in 1780, Canis antarticus in 1792 and Canis dingo in 1793. It has also been called Canis lupus dingo, which makes it a subspecies of Canis lupus, the grey wolf. In 2017, Jackson and colleagues proposed calling every free-ranging dog in the world, dingo included, Canis familiaris, the domestic dog. In 2019, Smith and colleagues replied that the dingo is its own species, Canis dingo, genetically, physically and behaviourally distinct from every other member of its genus and appearing to still live largely as a wild animal. The Australian Faunal Directory, a checklist of Australia's animals, lists it as Canis familiaris, and the Australian Museum's factsheet calls it a breed of domestic dog. *(Source: [Smith et al. 2019]())* ### Do dingoes bark? Dingoes rarely bark. They howl, especially at night, to call pack members together or warn off intruders. They also communicate with scent, rubbing, urinating and defecating on objects to mark the edges of a territory they leave rarely and will defend against other dingoes. *(Source: [Australian Museum]())* ### Is the dingo really Australia's largest land predator, and does that matter? Yes: one study calls it Australia's largest terrestrial, or land-dwelling, predator. Apex predators, the hunters at the top of a food chain, can set off chain reactions that change the numbers of many species in an ecosystem. In the Strzelecki Desert, shrub cover was 26 to 48% greater where dingoes were rare than where they were common. The study's model suggests why: without dingoes, mesopredators (mid-sized predators) become more common and hold down the rodents and rabbits that eat shrub seeds and seedlings, so more young shrubs take root. *(Source: [Gordon et al. 2016]())* ### Are dingoes dangerous to people? They can be. Queensland's government calls attacks on people relatively rare, but warns that a dingo is a wild animal and can be dangerous, especially one that has learned to link people with food and lost its natural fear of them. On K'gari (Fraser Island), the last reported fatal attack was in 2001, when a dingo killed a nine-year-old boy who had tripped and fallen near a campsite. *(Source: [Queensland Government 2025]())* ## Sources 1. [Dingo. Australian Museum.]() 2. [Species Canis familiaris Linnaeus, 1758. Australian Faunal Directory, Australian Biological Resources Study, 2025.]() 3. [Dingo overview. Queensland Government, 2025.]() 4. [Heagney & Loram (2023). K'gari has suffered a spike in dingo attacks: what is behind it and what can we humans do to avoid them? ABC News.]() 5. [Smith et al. (2019). Taxonomic status of the Australian dingo: the case for Canis dingo Meyer, 1793. Zootaxa.]() 6. [Jackson et al. (2017). The Wayward Dog: Is the Australian native dog or Dingo a distinct species? Zootaxa.]() 7. [Gordon et al. (2016). Shrub encroachment is linked to extirpation of an apex predator. Journal of Animal Ecology.]() 8. [Davis et al. (2015). Interspecific and Geographic Variation in the Diets of Sympatric Carnivores: Dingoes/Wild Dogs and Red Foxes in South-Eastern Australia. PLOS ONE.]() 9. [Corbett (2008). Canis lupus ssp. dingo. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2008: e.T41585A10484199.]() *Published September 1, 2026. Last updated September 14, 2026.* ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Article", "@id": "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/dingo/#article", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://animaltracks.wiki/#website" }, "headline": "Dingo (Canis familiaris) | AnimalTracks.wiki", "description": "Australia's largest land predator, which rarely barks: it howls to call its pack and marks its territory with scent.", "image": [ "https://animaltracks.wiki/images/animals/dingo-1.webp" ], "datePublished": "2026-09-01", "dateModified": "2026-09-14", "author": [ { "@type": "Organization", "name": "AnimalTracks.wiki Editorial Team", "url": "https://animaltracks.wiki" } ], "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://animaltracks.wiki/#organization", "name": "AnimalTracks.wiki", "url": "https://animaltracks.wiki", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://animaltracks.wiki/icon-512.png" } }, "mainEntityOfPage": "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/dingo/", "citation": [ { "@type": "CreativeWork", "name": "Dingo", "url": "https://australian.museum/learn/animals/mammals/dingo/", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Australian Museum" } }, { "@type": "CreativeWork", "name": "Species Canis familiaris Linnaeus, 1758", "url": "https://biodiversity.org.au/afd/taxa/Canis_familiaris", "datePublished": "2025", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Australian Faunal Directory, Australian Biological Resources Study" } }, { "@type": "CreativeWork", "name": "Dingo overview", "url": "https://www.qld.gov.au/environment/plants-animals/animals/living-with/dingoes/about-dingoes", "datePublished": "2025", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Queensland Government" } }, { "@type": "CreativeWork", "name": "K'gari has suffered a spike in dingo attacks: what is behind it and what can we humans do to avoid them?", "url": "https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-23/k-gari-fraser-island-dingo-attacks-spike-what-is-behind-it/102629828", "author": "Heagney & Loram", "datePublished": "2023", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "ABC News" } }, { "@type": "ScholarlyArticle", "name": "Taxonomic status of the Australian dingo: the case for Canis dingo Meyer, 1793", "url": "https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4564.1.6", "author": "Smith et al.", "datePublished": "2019", "isPartOf": { "@type": "Periodical", "name": "Zootaxa" }, "identifier": "doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4564.1.6" }, { "@type": "ScholarlyArticle", "name": "The Wayward Dog: Is the Australian native dog or Dingo a distinct species?", "url": "https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4317.2.1", "author": "Jackson et al.", "datePublished": "2017", "isPartOf": { "@type": "Periodical", "name": "Zootaxa" }, "identifier": "doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4317.2.1" }, { "@type": "ScholarlyArticle", "name": "Shrub encroachment is linked to extirpation of an apex predator", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.12607", "author": "Gordon et al.", "datePublished": "2016", "isPartOf": { "@type": "Periodical", "name": "Journal of Animal Ecology" }, "identifier": "doi:10.1111/1365-2656.12607" }, { "@type": "ScholarlyArticle", "name": "Interspecific and Geographic Variation in the Diets of Sympatric Carnivores: Dingoes/Wild Dogs and Red Foxes in South-Eastern Australia", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0120975", "author": "Davis et al.", "datePublished": "2015", "isPartOf": { "@type": "Periodical", "name": "PLOS ONE" }, "identifier": "doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0120975" }, { "@type": "ScholarlyArticle", "name": "Canis lupus ssp. dingo. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2008: e.T41585A10484199", "url": "https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2008.rlts.t41585a10484199.en", "author": "Corbett", "datePublished": "2008", "isPartOf": { "@type": "Periodical", "name": "The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species" }, "identifier": "doi:10.2305/iucn.uk.2008.rlts.t41585a10484199.en" } ], "about": { "@type": "Taxon", "name": "Dingo", "scientificName": "Canis familiaris", "description": "Rarely barks. It howls to call its pack together or warn off intruders, and marks the edges of its territory with scent: rubbing, urinating and defecating on objects." } }, { "@type": "FAQPage", "@id": "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/dingo/#faq", "mainEntity": [ { "@type": "Question", "name": "Is the dingo a dog, a wolf, or its own species?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Scientists have argued over that since the late 18th century, when the dingo was named three times in quick succession: Canis familiaris dingo in 1780, Canis antarticus in 1792 and Canis dingo in 1793. It has also been called Canis lupus dingo, which makes it a subspecies of Canis lupus, the grey wolf. In 2017, Jackson and colleagues proposed calling every free-ranging dog in the world, dingo included, Canis familiaris, the domestic dog. In 2019, Smith and colleagues replied that the dingo is its own species, Canis dingo, genetically, physically and behaviourally distinct from every other member of its genus and appearing to still live largely as a wild animal. The Australian Faunal Directory, a checklist of Australia's animals, lists it as Canis familiaris, and the Australian Museum's factsheet calls it a breed of domestic dog.", "citation": { "@type": "ScholarlyArticle", "name": "Taxonomic status of the Australian dingo: the case for Canis dingo Meyer, 1793", "url": "https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4564.1.6", "author": "Smith et al.", "datePublished": "2019", "isPartOf": { "@type": "Periodical", "name": "Zootaxa" }, "identifier": "doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4564.1.6" } } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Do dingoes bark?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Dingoes rarely bark. They howl, especially at night, to call pack members together or warn off intruders. They also communicate with scent, rubbing, urinating and defecating on objects to mark the edges of a territory they leave rarely and will defend against other dingoes.", "citation": { "@type": "CreativeWork", "name": "Dingo", "url": "https://australian.museum/learn/animals/mammals/dingo/", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Australian Museum" } } } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Is the dingo really Australia's largest land predator, and does that matter?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Yes: one study calls it Australia's largest terrestrial, or land-dwelling, predator. Apex predators, the hunters at the top of a food chain, can set off chain reactions that change the numbers of many species in an ecosystem. In the Strzelecki Desert, shrub cover was 26 to 48% greater where dingoes were rare than where they were common. The study's model suggests why: without dingoes, mesopredators (mid-sized predators) become more common and hold down the rodents and rabbits that eat shrub seeds and seedlings, so more young shrubs take root.", "citation": { "@type": "ScholarlyArticle", "name": "Shrub encroachment is linked to extirpation of an apex predator", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.12607", "author": "Gordon et al.", "datePublished": "2016", "isPartOf": { "@type": "Periodical", "name": "Journal of Animal Ecology" }, "identifier": "doi:10.1111/1365-2656.12607" } } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Are dingoes dangerous to people?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "They can be. Queensland's government calls attacks on people relatively rare, but warns that a dingo is a wild animal and can be dangerous, especially one that has learned to link people with food and lost its natural fear of them. On K'gari (Fraser Island), the last reported fatal attack was in 2001, when a dingo killed a nine-year-old boy who had tripped and fallen near a campsite.", "citation": { "@type": "CreativeWork", "name": "Dingo overview", "url": "https://www.qld.gov.au/environment/plants-animals/animals/living-with/dingoes/about-dingoes", "datePublished": "2025", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Queensland Government" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "MusicRecording", "name": "Smoko", "byArtist": { "@type": "MusicGroup", "name": "The Chats" }, "genre": "Aussie Garage Punk & Pub Rock", "url": "https://open.spotify.com/track/5nw2rQXAjfpZNaMzAJ8qTX" } ] } ```