Just checked the status of the dingo in Queensland, to find it is protected native fauna in parks and conservation reserves but regarded as a pest species in the rural context. In the Northern Territory dingos have been protected since 2002, although feral dogs are fair game. Nobody carries a chromosome karyotyping kit in their hunting pack however...

While chasing deer in Queensland recently I got the drop on a pair of dogs that were checking out the cattle paddock on the property I was hunting. I was sitting in deep shade at the edge of the lantana overlooking a partially cleared slope when I saw them at about 300 metres, inbound.

Took a couple of pics as they approached, then figured out their most likely path and hunkered down beside a tree-trunk hoping for a close-up. As they got nearer however I realised the dog was a very large alpha male, and could be a serious threat to the three young calves on the place, and the ten or so more expected to drop in the coming weeks. Swapping the camera for the Ruger I closed the bolt and waited patiently for events to unfold.

As luck would have it, they walked right onto me. The bitch saw me at about 8 metres (I later paced it) and propped. He was a couple of metres behind her and never saw me at all.

At the shot, the bitch leapt into high gear and instantly disappeared in the lantana: only fleeting flashes of red could be seen for a hundred metres or so up the gully till she finally vanished. I figured without the big male she would be no threat to the calves, and I doubt they will see her again in that valley anyway!

Those awesome Great Dividing Range dingos are a far cry from the modest specimens we see here in the Top End, in every respect.