Diet of dingoes in the West Kimberley, and the impact of linear clearing
Tenaya A. Duncan A , Patricia A. Fleming
A and Stuart J. Dawson A B *
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Research Centre for Terrestrial Ecosystem Science and Sustainability, Harry Butler Institute, Murdoch University, Perth, WA 6150, Australia.
B Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, 3 Baron-Hay Court, South Perth, WA 6151, Australia.
Australian Mammalogy 44(3) 338-346 https://doi.org/10.1071/AM21016
Submitted: 3 May 2021 Accepted: 25 October 2021 Published: 31 January 2022
© 2022 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of the Australian Mammal Society.
Abstract
Generalist predators, such as the dingo (Canis familiaris), frequently use linear clearings as movement corridors, increasing their mobility, landscape access, and sometimes modifying predator–prey relationships. We quantified the diet of the dingo in the West Kimberley region of Western Australia and tested the hypothesis that clearing of seismic lines would result in a change to the diet of dingoes. A total of 199 scats were collected from inside and outside the footprint of a seismic survey at three collection time points (before and twice after the disturbance). Overall, the diet of dingoes varied over seasons (P = 0.003), and between control and treatment sites (P = 0.013); however, there was no evidence of a shift in diet caused by seismic clearing (time × treatment interaction term, P = 0.848). Cattle were the most frequently occurring item (frequency of occurrence = 65% of 199 samples; the greatest value recorded in Australia), with greater consumption of cattle in control and treatment sites at the end of the dry season compared to the early dry season, likely driven by an increase in cattle mortality and susceptibility to predation. Despite dingoes using seismic lines as movement corridors, there is little evidence that this results in a change in their diet.
Keywords: canids, cattle, dingo, diet, livestock, macropod, predation, scats, seismic lines, wolves.
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