A recently published study in the School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Centre for Integrative Ecology at Deakin University provided a fascinating insight into the diet variation between a native apex predator (dingo) and an introduced mesopredator (fox) in Victoria’s alpine region.
Over three seasons and across Mt Hotham, Bogong High Plains and Mt Buffalo, the diet of dingos and foxes was examined using macroscopic scat analysis. The analysis identified little overlap between the carnivores’ diets, with the fox experiencing a broader diet than the dingo.
Of note, the Dingo’s diet heavily featured larger mammal species, with sambar accounting for 44% and wombats 34% of their diet. This contrasts the fox, whose diet typically featured smaller mammals such as the native bush rat 55% and the European rabbit 15%.
The study also states that: It is possible that dingoes could help regulate the distribution and/or abundance of sambar deer through predation and/or fear induced changes to deer behaviour and habitat use.
As a result of the Dingo consuming significant amounts of sambar, be it from scavenging or hunting, the Dingo is vulnerable to secondary poisoning due to socially unacceptable attempts to manage deer via toxic baits, as proposed in the draft national feral (sic) deer plan.
To read the study in full, please click here.
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