Mystery of the Dingo.

Kaipara and Waitemata Echo, 11 September 1914, Page 2

Mystery of the Dingo.

Although the highest authoriries agree in stating that the dingo was at some remote period introduced into Australia, and that it subsequently reverted to a wild state — like the "wild" horses of the Andes there are still those who regard this dog as one of the original wild dogs from which our domestic dogs are descended. In any case,

{ the breed is one of very great antiquity, and therefore of the high- | est interest to all dog lovers.

The vexed problem as to the • origin of the dogs we all know so well has given rise to such endless questions that any animal that can be described as a possible forebear is sure of attracting attention, and it is not surprising that the dingo should have been imported into Britain so that its habits might be closely studied.

I remember many years since being introduced to one of the very first of these dogs ever brought to England. He was the property of an enthusiastic supporter of the Old

English Mastiff, and he seemed odd|_yly out of place amongst th.c mag■.nifitent specimens of the latter breed the kennel contained. At a later date an extremely fine dingo was extensively exhibited at the leading shows, while for years there have been- some of these dogs in the Zoological Gardens. One of these latter, I noticed, was bred by the Right Honourable "Lu-lu" Harcourt.

It is to be feared that a good many visitors to the Zoo "skip"' the dingo and his neighbour:--, or only spare them a passing glance. Until one begins to study them seriously there is such similarity between jackals and foxes, the various wolves and dingoes, that the casual observer "dumps" them all together and hurries off to find something more striking. Why the lion huiise is just over there, while to the left is the abode of many strange reptiles. Lions and tigers and boa-

constrictors are much more arresting—no joke intended '.—than shy, wolfish-looking creatures no bigger than a collie.

Actually the fact that the dingo so strongly resembles the wolf adds considerably to his interest, supporting as it does the theoryonly a theory mind—that domestic dogs have come to us from the wolves which have always been so detested by man. In the case of the dingo the resemblance is very strong indeed, yet experience of the dog in confinement certainly supports the opposing contention that there was a time when he was not a wild beast but a partially, perhaps wholly, domesticated one.

The dingo is much more easily tamed than a wolf is, though I know from experience how' charmingly friendly young wolves can be, and it sooner loses all characteristics of the truly wild animal. It w^as at one time the custom to describe the "wild dog of Australia " as wolfish in disposition, as well as in appearance, and he was very far from being regarded as safe. Those who know him best, however, are found declaring that the dog may not merely be tamed, but is capable of readily acquiring useful habits, and of becoming a good compan-

ion. Even his voice alters as he comes under, the influence of domestication. In course of time he learns to bark, an accomplishment unknown to the dingo of the wild.

On the whole the dingo may be said to take to civilisation with suspicious readiness. Like the " raw recruit" who instinctively pulls himself together at the familiar " 'Shun," there is in our hero's behaviour that which suggests that he has "been there before."