Science & Tech · Science & Environment · 3 hrs ago
Dingoes caught hunting feral cats in Western Australia's Great Sandy Desert
Cameras have recorded dingoes hunting feral cats in the Great Sandy Desert in Western Australia.
The footage comes from a research project led by Nyangumarta Rangers in partnership with Central Queensland University.
The project, launched in 2022, studies how dingoes move, what they eat and their environmental role in the Nyangumarta Indigenous Protected Area.
Rangers say feral cats kill animals such as the greater bilby and desert mouse, and a state department says one feral cat can kill more than 700 small animals a year.
The research builds on a long relationship between local people and dingoes, which Djinaparli and her family once trained to hunt.
Rangers use cameras, tracking collars and scat kits to gather information in the desert.
The project aims to understand how dingoes interact with cats and foxes and what that means for the area’s wildlife.
Cameras in Western Australia's Great Sandy Desert have recorded dingoes eating feral cats.
Nyangumarta ranger Roberta Hunter said cats kill precious animals such as the greater bilby and desert mouse.
The Wartaji research project studies dingoes, their environmental role and their interactions with feral cats and foxes.
The project was commissioned by the Nyangumarta Rangers with Central Queensland University in 2022.
A Mangala woman, Djinaparli, said her family trained dingoes as hunting dogs and lived with them in the desert.
- Who
- Dingoes were recorded hunting feral cats. Nyangumarta Rangers and Central Queensland University are studying them.
- What
- Cameras captured dingoes eating feral cats in the Great Sandy Desert.
- When
- The footage date is not stated. The Wartaji research project began in 2022.
- Where
- The Nyangumarta Indigenous Protected Area in Western Australia's Great Sandy Desert.
- Why
- The project aims to understand dingoes' movements, diet and environmental role, including their interactions with feral cats and foxes.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
A severe drought dried up regional waterholes and the family group found that its hunting dogs brought back fewer animals.
Djinaparli and her family left the Great Sandy Desert.
The Nyangumarta Rangers commissioned the Wartaji research project with Central Queensland University.
- Project name
- Wartaji, meaning dingo in Nyangumarta
- Project start
- 2022
- Desert area
- About 300,000 square kilometres
- Distance from Perth
- About 1,400 kilometres north-east
- Cat impact
- A single feral cat kills more than 700 small animals per year, according to WA's Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions
What people are saying
It's good when the dingoes eat cats, because they are killing our precious animals, like the Greater Bilby and desert mouse
We had them since they were little puppies, and we grew them up; they slept with us