‘It’s our kinship’: can #Australia learn to coexist with #dingoes?
As dingoes vanish from parts of Australia, a new documentary is calling on governments to move away from #eradication and towards solutions that benefit both #farmers and #animals
By Rosamund Brennan, 11 May 2026
Excerpt: "As Takau began looking into dingo laws, she says she found that policy was shaped largely by livestock interests, with little regard for #FirstNations cultural authority. 'There were no Aboriginal people having a say in this animal,' she says.
"In many parts of Australia, dingoes are grouped with 'wild dogs' under biosecurity laws and treated as pests or invasive animals, allowing – and in some places requiring – landholders to kill or exclude them to protect livestock.
"But Takau argues that framing ignores both their cultural significance and their ecological role. 'Dingoes keep Country healthy,' she says; they can control #overgrazing by animals like goats and #kangaroos, and reduce pressure from feral cats and foxes, which prey on #NativeWildlife.
"Through her advocacy, Takau met #AlixLivingstone, founder of #DefendTheWild, and the two began working to centre #Aboriginal voices in #DingoConservation. That work led west, through a #CulturalExchange that brought rangers from #Queensland and northern #NSW together with Aboriginal corporations on WA’s south coast to share dingo monitoring knowledge and cultural stories.
"The film and campaign grew out of that exchange. In February, Moort was screened at WA parliament, where custodians called on the state government to remove dingoes from pest classifications in biosecurity law and phase out 1080 baiting and #strychnine-laced foothold traps, which can cause prolonged, painful deaths.
"Livingstone says the campaign is not about pitting Aboriginal people against farmers but shifting support from killing programs to coexistence measures such as #BetterFencing, #GuardianAnimals and practical help for landholders. 'It’s about finding solutions for farmers that protect their interests but also maintain dingoes in the environment,' she says."
Read more:
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/may/12/australia-dingoes-documentary-calling-dingo-back-to-country
#SolarPunkSunday #NativeAustralians #SonyaTakau #Rewilding #EndangeredSpecies #Coexistence #Nature
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