Activity of dingoes (Canis familiaris) and their use of anthropogenic resources in the Strzelecki Desert, South Australia

Introduction

Free-ranging dogs, including dingoes (Canis familiaris), are subject to conflict with humans throughout their range. Dingoes are an introduced canid from Asia that have become naturalised in Australia over the past ~5000 years (Jackson et al. 2017, 2019). Their ability to adapt to Australian environments, along with their co-occurrence with humans, has led to their widespread distribution. Following their introduction into Australia, the original canid ancestors became part of Aboriginal culture (Rose 1984), highlighting their domestication tendencies (Diamond 2002; Zeder 2006, 2012). These same tendencies continue today, with free-roaming dogs/dingoes exploiting the provisioning of food, water and shelter in remote areas, particularly near mine sites (Newsome et al. 2014, 2015; Déaux et al. 2018; Smith et al. 2020). In the Cooper Basin, management of dingo numbers is necessary to prevent human attacks such as those that have occurred on K’gari (Fraser Island) (Appleby et al. 2017; Tapply 2018; Behrendorff et al. 2023), disease spread and general nuisance issues. The provision of anthropogenic resources attracts large numbers of dingoes to occupy focal areas, and thus supports high densities (Becker and Hall 2014) around mining camps (Newsome et al. 2013a) and increases the risk of conflict with humans (Herrero and Higgins 2003). Dingoes are commensal with humans and, although they are wild animals, they exhibit many domestic behavioural traits in response to human interactions, including increased rest time (Altmann and Muruthi 1988; Déaux et al. 2018). This leads to individual dingoes living largely within human settlements, in some cases entering quarters and stealing food, human clothing and so on, which increases the occurrence of human–wildlife conflict (Newsome and Van Eeden 2017; Behrendorff et al. 2023). Further, a reliance on these resources can lead to development of anticipatory behaviour, where animals become reliant on and anticipate when food will be provided (Pini-Fitzsimmons et al. 2018). Similarly, provisioning of water in a landscape that was devoid of permanent water prior to European settlement (James et al. 1995) provides advantages to Australian wildlife (James et al. 1999).

A piosphere effect (Osborn et al. 1932) can be evident around anthropogenic food and, to a lesser degree, water-provisioning sites in arid/desert environments. This piosphere effect can even cause deep and obvious dingo walking pads (Eldridge 1996), linking these sites and the desert (P. Meek, pers. obs.). Provisioning of water in dams can help sustain larger numbers of dingoes than normal (Newsome and Corbett 1977) and dingo numbers in arid Australia are higher closer to water bodies (Brawata and Neeman 2011). In the central Australian arid zone, some water is available as either seasonal free water (ephemeral swamps) or agricultural and mining dams (settling ponds), although these are not common.

Managing dingo populations for human health and safety, as well as ecological and cultural goals, is required in the Cooper Basin mine area under management plans (Anon 2017a, 2017b). Controlling the number of dingoes living within waste-management facilities and camps also provides some disease-mitigation benefits for individual dingoes that suffer extreme sarcoptic mange (Sarcoptes scabiei) infection (Murray et al. 2015) because of high contact rates. The effect on the epidemiology of disease and pathogens of abnormally high animal densities of dingoes resulting from dependence on human resources (Becker and Hall 2014) is under-recognised in Australia. Provision of food and water can lead to an increase in wildlife population sizes and thus increase pathogen transmission (Becker and Hall 2014). Moreover, although providing food can reduce nutritional stress, this may cause prolonged infection (Becker and Hall 2014). In the case of dingoes, food and water provisioning in the arid zone leads to increased abundance, resting (Newsome et al. 2015), use of focal points, and tolerance of conspecifics (Newsome et al. 2013b), and probably has a negative effect on biodiversity through increased predation (Harrington et al. 1999; Davies et al. 2010). Whether undertaken for ecological, human-safety or dingo-welfare reasons, the management of over-abundant populations requires ecological knowledge of dingo ecology.

Understanding how dingoes use the resources available in mining camps and surrounding areas is an important first step in developing strategies for managing an over-abundant population. To this end, we studied a population of dingoes to evaluate their activity, movement patterns and use of the anthropomorphic resources provided in a mining camp. The knowledge gained from this study together with observations and data collected since 2015 will form the foundation of management recommendations for managing dingoes in desert mine sites.

Materials and methods

Study area

The GPS radio-tracking study was conducted in the gas fields of the Cooper Basin (28°07′25.91″S, 140°11′45.65″E) surrounded by the Strzelecki Desert in South Australia (Fig. 1). The Cooper Basin is located in north-eastern South Australia, north of Lyndhurst and south of Innamincka. The weather is predominantly hot and dry, with an annual rainfall of 200–300 mm, and temperature ranging from 0 to 50 degrees Celsius between winter and summer (10 September 2023, Bureau of Meteorology). The soils profile consists mainly of clay-rich vertosols and kandosols, with dune systems and low-lying wetlands. Vegetation is broadly sparse shrublands and scattered grasslands. The gas-field mine site has restricted access and consists of the mine camp which includes residential and industrial infrastructure (roads, airport, gas plant and living quarters) and a waste-management facility (WMF) where all food scraps are deposited daily (food pit), and rubbish is stored prior to recycling or burial (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1.

Location of the study mine site in the Cooper Basin, South Australia.

Results

Dingo classifications based on activity-area analysis

The activity areas of dingoes in the Cooper Basin mine site ranged from 9 to 2400 km² (95% MCP), with each of the dingoes using the WMF compared with the desert in different proportions. By analysing GPS fixes in relation to the distance that each dingo roamed from the WMF area, and by evaluating the proportion of location points in the landscape (i.e. WMF vs desert) used to generate activity areas (Table 2, Fig. 2), we separated dingoes into the following three classifications: tip, peripatetic and desert dingoes. Tip dingoes were those that focussed the largest proportion of their time (proportion of fixes) in the WMF or within a 20 km radius of it (Fig. 2). Peripatetic dingoes were those that showed a predisposition to share their activity between the desert and the WMF (<40 km), with a stronger association with the desert ecosystem than the food pit (Fig. 3). Desert dingoes were animals that utilised the WMF only rarely, with activity mostly occurring within 80 km of the mine site (Fig. 2). These classifications were validated further by testing the relationship among classifications and the amount of time spent in the WMF (F_2,24 = 18.4, P < 0.05) and the size of individual dog-activity areas (F_2,24−20.9, P < 0.05). Correlation of ‘percentage days spent at WMF’ and activity size and daily movement resulted in significant negative correlations (R² = 0.40, F_1,25 = 16.63, P < 0.05 and R² = 0.16, F_1,25 = 5.12, P < 0.05 respectively).

Fig. 2.

Activity areas of representatives of three dingo groups (tip, peripatetic and desert dingoes) using Brownian bridge 95% analysis to calculate activity areas in the Cooper Basin. Red dots represent the mine WMF.

Fig. 3.

The activity area and movement by a male dingo (Sunny, desert dog) over 131 days from early spring to mid-summer from the mine camp towards Innamincka.

Desert dingoes had larger activity areas than did the other dingoes that utilised the WMF, regardless of the method used to calculate area (UD95%, F_2,24 = 20.9, P < 0.05). We could not calculate a meaningful activity area for dingo Yuley by using BB95% because the distribution of his fixes did not fit the methodology assumptions. Likewise, this method was not accurate in calculating activity areas for Schwob, because he had a strong affinity with the WMF. Desert dingoes had activity areas ranging from 589 to 2526 km² (UD95%)/125–1078 km² (BB95%), compared with the activity areas of 74–314 km² (UD95%)/229–268 km² (BB95%) for peripatetic dingoes and of 12–212 km² (UD95%)/7–87 km² (BB95%) for tip dingoes (see Supplementary Material Table S1).

Waste management-facility use and associations with dingo activity

There was a relationship between the daily distance travelled and type of dingo on the basis of their use patterns of the WMF (F_2,24 = 6.18, P < 0.05; Fig. 4). Tip dingo movement was mostly short-distance travel around the WMF and in the vicinity of established infrastructure and the food pit (Fig. 5). Peripatetic dingoes were recorded using more of the surrounding dune ecosystem, but spent a similar amount of time around the infrastructure of the WMF, which includes the food pit. The desert dingoes did not show any specific tendency to utilise infrastructure or the WMF and spent most of their time in the dune system (see Figs 2 and 3). Dozer and Sunny appeared not to have a strong use pattern around the WMF. Wesley was observed on camera-trap (data collected for a separate study) returning to the WMF periodically for months after his collar failed. Only one dingo used the camp infrastructure, whereas 10 dingoes visited water bodies on the outskirts of the camp boundary, using well-worn dingo pads connecting the two sites. Uncollared dingoes were common in the mine site camp throughout the day, but the highest activity was early morning and night.

Fig. 4.

The utilisation-distribution (UD) activity area, percentage of time spent in the waste-management facility (WMF) and average daily distance travelled by dingoes in the Cooper Basin. TD, tip dingo; PD is peripatetic dingo; and DD, desert dingo. 95% UD refers to the activity-analysis method utilisation distribution.

Fig. 5.

Boxplot of the three classifications of dingoes in a Cooper Basin mine site and the distances in kilometres between the waste-management facility (WMF) and each of their fixes as a measure of their activity range and use of the surrounding landscape.

Long-range movements

Eight dingoes conducted long-distance forays (Fig. 6). A male dingo (Sunny) walked from his activity area towards Innamincka (Figs 3, 6), a linear distance of ~100 km from capture site to township. Seven dingoes displayed regular long-distance movements, travelling >45 km between the WMF and their preferred desert activity area (Fig. 6). A male dingo (Dozer) that was trapped in the WMF (but rarely seen in the area thereafter) occupied a largely desert home range (Fig. 6) where his collar dropped off ~125 km from the mine site in an extremely remote location only reachable by foot.

Fig. 6.

Long-range movements exceeding a 45-km straight-line distance from the waste-management facility (WMF) of eight Desert dingoes in the Cooper Basin.

Food provisioning

On the basis of the output from kernel density estimates over time, dingoes most commonly accessed the WMF at night, despite the FWT depositing food waste from the mine camp mess hall twice daily. On average, the FWT entered the WMF at 0600 hours and 1200 hours, which corresponded with food-hall closure times (Fig. 7).

Fig. 7.

Temporal activity of four tip dingoes showing a strong relationship with their fixes within 150 m of the food pit when the food truck unloaded mess-hall food in the morning.

Once we accounted for the time delay of 5–20 min between when the camera-traps detected a FWT driving to the pit and when the food was actually dropped in the pit; four dingoes showed clear peaks in activity at the corresponding times (Fig. 7), especially in the early morning (breakfast). Visitation to the food pit was also high during the evening and night (sunset–sunrise) when dingoes are most active (Thomson 1992).

The WMF was used by all the collared dingoes to varying extents, with only one animal (Sunny) never returning to the WMF after being caught and released. Although the desert dingoes infrequently used the WMF (Fig. 2), they did make occasional sallies to the food pit. Analysis showed that the vast majority of dingoes were more likely to be closer to the WMF at night and further from the WMF in the early afternoon. These results were consistent throughout the population, and so were averaged across all dingoes and plotted to visualise the trend (Fig. 8).

Fig. 8.

The average minimum, maximum and mean distance (km) of the dingo population in the Cooper Basin from a waste-management facility (WMF) throughout a 24-h period.

Despite a few permanent water bodies (settling ponds) being accessible to all the collared dingoes, 13 of them visited these sites infrequently. Eight dingoes visited water bodies multiple times, but there was no focus in activity associated with permanent water bodies. Uncollared dingoes were observed drinking from buckets of water and leaking garden taps at the WMF on occasions during summer.

Discussion

In comparison to other dingo-density estimates (i.e. 0.01–0.7 individuals/km²; Gabriele-Rivet et al. 2019, 2020) and similarly to some other studies of arid-zone dingoes near mine sites (Newsome et al. 2013a; Smith et al. 2020), the density of our study dingo population was very high at the mine site. This anomalous high density was likely to be attributable to anthropogenic resourcing, as was found by Newsome et al. (2013a) in a similar central Australian situation. Our dingo population displayed high purity, as has been found elsewhere in central Australia (Newsome et al. 2013a; Stephens et al. 2015), which justifies direct comparisons with previous studies.

We classified the Cooper Basin dingoes into three types according to their use of the WMF and surrounding desert habitat (Figs 2, 4, 5). There were differences in the size of the activity areas of the three dingo groups, with desert dingoes occupying a much larger area (mean = 494 km²) than did tip dingoes (mean = 35 km²) and peripatetic dingoes (mean = 246 km²), being similar to area occupied by dingoes in the Tanami Desert (Newsome et al. 2013b) and wolves (Canis lupus) in North America (Petroelje et al. 2019). Our observed difference was also reflected in the WMF visitation rates of the different dingo classifications, which was much higher in the tip population than the other groups (Fig. 3).

A classification of Mine and Away dingoes has been used for Tanami Desert dingoes (Newsome et al. 2013b). Dingoes living close to the mine site in the Tanami Desert recorded kernel home ranges of 0.68–10.8 km² (mean 10 km²); Cooper Basin dingoes had larger activity areas of 7–87 km² (BB95%; Fig. 2). Cooper Basin dingoes that relied less on the WMF and more on the desert had a mean home-range/activity area of 494 km² (range = 124–1078 km²), similar to the mean home range size of 403 km² for Tanami dingoes (range = 79.5–999 km²). Dingoes in the Western Australian desert had larger average activity areas (seasonal home range using kernel density) of 480–1020 km² (Wysong et al. 2020), whereas Allen (2012) estimated that dingo packs in the Strzelecki Desert had activity areas of only ~24 km².

Several dingoes in the current study exhibited long movements into the desert, with distances covering >200 km (Figs 3, 6).

GPS data and observations of dingoes in the Cooper Basin (Fig. 8) were consistent with those in other studies in that they identified crepuscular–nocturnal peaks and inactivity mostly during the day (Tatler et al. 2021), especially in the summer. We found that dingoes were closer to and more likely to visit the food pit during the period from 2200 hours to 0200 hours. This corresponds with direct observations of increased numbers of dingoes and vocalisations occurring from sunset to sunrise, and is further supported by trapping records from previous studies (Meek and Brown 2017; Meek et al. 2019a, 2019b). On sunset, dingoes were consistently observed heading from within the WMF and the surrounding areas to the food pit during this study and in the 7 years we have been working at this site. During the day, some tip dingoes did display increased activity close to the food pit mid-morning and around midday when the FWT was dumping mess-hall food waste (Figs 7, 8). On the basis of collared dingo data and observations of uncollared dingoes close to the food pit, some dingoes displayed learned behaviour when the food truck approached the WMF. Competition to access freshly dumped food by other dingoes and an abundance of raptors and corvids could have influenced this behaviour. Even when machinery was used to cover freshly deposited food, dingoes and birds would immediately scavenge in the area, often at the risk of being run over and killed by the tracked excavator. This reliance on food (anticipatory behavioural development) by some dingoes was apparent by the focus of their activity around the WMF. However, although some of the study animals were recorded visiting settling ponds where water was freely accessible, their activity was not as focussed on water sites as it was food.

It was not within the scope of this study to analyse the diet of the dingoes in the Cooper Basin. However, the WMF was littered with dingo scats at an extremely high density throughout 2015–2021 and none had the appearance of normal, well-composed scat with digested flesh. Instead, a very high occurrence of rubbish (plastic bags) and litter in scats was evident These observations concur with dingo scats collected in the Tanami (Newsome et al. 2019). In 2021, one of the authors (PM) observed a lactating female successfully hunting burrowing dragon lizards 20 km away from the WMF. Also, like Newsome et al. (2019) and (Smith et al. 2020), who reported cannibalism among dingoes when food resources were provided, aggressive behaviours towards constrained (trapped) dingoes as well as cannibalism did occur at this site (Meek and Brown 2017). Nonetheless, given the high density of dingoes and high contact rates among individuals, aggressive behaviour was rare and was observed only in the food pit and when trapped.

Mange was common in the dingo population trapped and observed between 2015 and 2021. A study of coyotes (Canis latrans) in Canada showed that animals that relied on anthropogenic food subsidies tended to have higher levels of mange, and the resultant poorer health reduced their activity patterns and the size of their home range, which in turn facilitated their continued dependence on anthropogenic resources (Murray et al. 2015). Throughout the years 2015–2021, one of the authors (PM) made one or two field visits each year to the site for various research projects. Anecdotal data collected from trapping and camera trapping studies (Meek and Brown 2017; Meek et al. 2018, 2019a) suggested that dingoes that are almost hairless and ulcerated from severe mange and associated infection rarely moved far from the WMF. On several occasions, PM was required to euthanise dingoes with sever mange-related infection such that the animal’s spine was deformed, and large lesions developed on the legs affecting movement. There is a clear relationship between wildlife and anthropogenic resource provisioning on the health of wildlife populations. The additional resources often affect population demography by improving reproductive success and thus contact rates, resulting in amplified pathogen transmission (Becker and Hall 2014). Our sample size for each dingo classification was too small to enable any assessment of mange infection among dingo types with confidence. However, in terms of pathology, it might be expected that dingoes living in close contact with conspecifics would show a higher incidence of mange and animals with severe infection would not travel far from food and water.

The overabundance of dingoes at mine sites presents many management problems as discussed; however, the ecological consequences may also be problematic. Newsome et al. (2014) noted that the provisioning of resources at mine sites alters dingo diets and may result in higher predation on small mammals, but diet analysis (scat and stomach) would be required to confirm such increased predation. There is no evidence to suggest in the Cooper Basin that food provisioning will result in a decline in the abundance of dingoes as reported for other species that have declined as a result of ecological and behavioural changes (Peterson et al. 2005; Senigaglia 2020). In fact, the provision of easily accessible food and water to desert dingoes almost certainly causes a higher than normal abundance in the Cooper Basin (this study) and Tanami dingoes (Newsome et al. 2019). One explanation not previously explored is whether the provisioning of resources by humans and the safety afforded them by occupying a human settlement triggers an ancient domestic trait. Given dingoes are domestic dogs gone wild (Jackson et al. 2017, 2019, 2021), it is feasible that these dingoes revert to their domestic traits and behaviours of dependence, tolerance and acceptance of humans. Artificial food resources thus might essentially be triggering a re-taming of dingoes back to a more domestic type and re-igniting the artificial selection process that led to their domestication from wolf to dog approximately 17,000 years ago (Driscoll and Macdonald 2010). In the Cooper Basin, dingoes are commonly seen around people and some individuals become pet-like, hovering around doors to food halls and selected living quarters where mine workers feed them like pets. One of the authors (PM) has sat on the ground near one such dingo and photographed the animal licking his knee in anticipation of food. Many domestic-dog behavioural traits were recorded of dingoes in the mine site, such as playing with food wrappers and playing with humans in the manner of puppies. Similar behaviours are displayed by feral cats re-adjusting from wild-living to a stray and domestic existence (Serpell 2000), although this has not occurred in true wild introduced animals such as foxes (Vulpes vulpes), despite concerted efforts (Macdonald 1987; Trut 1999). If this is a valid proposition, then tip and peripatetic dingoes in the Cooper Basin, and similar types of dingoes in the Tanami (Newsome et al. 2013b), may have the genetic edge over desert dingoes as they revert to their domestic behaviours in response to anthropogenic food provisioning.

Analysis of the DNA from collared individuals confirmed that 97.6% of the collared population had a high percentage of dingo genes (Stephens et al. 2015), indicating that there has been little ingress from pastoralist domestic working dogs and that the isolation and security of the mine means that dingoes cannot inter-breed with any domestic dogs. Research is warranted to assess familial genetics among the three categories of dingo at the Cooper Basin, to determine whether behavioural traits such as dependency on anthropogenic resources are passed on to progeny within the tip and peripatetic dingoes.

Conclusions

Dingoes have adapted to and rely on anthropogenic food and other resources provided by human occupation in the arid zone, which has implications for population abundance, human–wildlife conflict and disease transmission (Newsome and Van Eeden 2017). This study found three types of dingoes in the Cooper Basin and a dependence by a proportion of the collared dingoes in using food, water and shelter provided by human presence. Excluding dingoes from food and water is a crucial first step in mitigating the consequences of providing resources to an animal that is highly susceptible to domestication. Exclusion fencing around waste facilities has proven to reduce dingo occupancy (Behrendorff et al. 2016; Newsome et al. 2019; Behrendorff et al. 2023) and should be a mandatory requirement in mine management planning. Ongoing efforts to process food waste to reduce the attraction of the food pit to wildlife should continue. Providing access to food, water and shelter, and the common practice of mine staff feeding dingoes will continue to encourage over-breeding, survival and behavioural attraction to mine workers, potentially leading to increasing levels of quasi-domestic behaviours that increase contact rates between humans and dingoes and causing over-abundant populations.

Supplementary material

Supplementary material is available online.