Farmers have renewed concerns about land management and the safety of their sheep flocks after a bushfire in Victoria’s Little Desert National Park led to the revelation that dingoes were being bred in the reserve.
The discovery has reignited fears in South Australia about the repercussions of the Victorian government’s move to protect dingoes in the north-west of the state.
Victorian Agriculture Minister Ros Spence confirmed the dingo breeding facility, located in a former malleefowl enclosure within the Little Desert Nature Lodge, held 11 dingoes.
Eight of those were relocated to Zoos Victoria sites during the Little Desert National Park bushfire.
The fire was ignited by dry lightning on January 27 and burned through more than 95,000 hectares in two weeks.
Eleven dingoes are located in an enclosure at the Little Desert Nature Lodge. (Supplied: John Bennett)
The Barengi Gadjin Land Council leases the enclosure in the Little Desert Nature Lodge, under a permit through the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA).
Neither the land council nor DEECA commented on the arrangement, but Ms Spence told the ABC’s Victorian Country Hour that she understood the dingoes were domesticated animals with no plans for release.
Ellisha Martion of Big Desert Dingo Research said the enclosure was compliant under Victorian law, and additional security at the lodge made “any risk of escape virtually impossible”.
“The claim that these dingoes will range out into open country and pose a threat to livestock is completely unfounded,” she said.
Calls for greater transparency
Wimmera sheep and cropping farmer John Bennett disagreed, saying a number of farmers in the vicinity of the Little Desert National Park had reported alleged sightings of dingoes outside containment, prior to the recent fires.
John Bennett says the discovery of a dingo breeding site worries livestock farmers. (Supplied: John Bennett)
He said locals had been “completely unaware” of the dingo breeding site and called for greater transparency from authorities.
“Had the bushfire not gone through that part of the park, a lot of locals are questioning whether we would have learnt of this arrangement at all,” he said.
Mr Bennett said transparency was needed to quell confusion and potential misinformation, and joined calls for a public meeting over dingo and wild dog issues.
“Livestock farmers want the relevant authorities to come forward and communicate with locals about what arrangements are in place, and what accountability and oversight is in place,”
he said.
Mr Bennett said community angst, especially among sheep producers, had risen since the Victorian government issued a new dingo unprotection order last year.
The unprotection order allows for the culling of dingoes to protect livestock within a 3-kilometre buffer zone along the boundary of public land.
The new order excluded north-west Victoria due to the risk of extinction of the local dingo population, meaning farmers in the region could not engage in lethal control.
“There needs to be a conversation around this now, so that producers can feel assured that their interests are being protected,” Mr Bennett said.
Ms Martion said a dedicated dingo forum could offer “a more constructive platform”.
“A forum could bring together traditional owners, scientists, conservationists, and livestock producers [or representatives] to share evidence-based knowledge, perspectives, and experiences, while also promoting active listening,” she said.
Cross-border issue for farmers
Independent South Australian MP Nick McBride said his constituents in the upper South East had increasingly raised concerns about the potential for dingo and wild dog predation in the wake of the fire, as well as concerns around native and threatened wildlife like the flightless malleefowl.
Nick McBride says he has written to Victorian parliamentarians. (Supplied: Nick McBride)
Mr McBride, who is also chair of AJ & PA McBride, one of Australia’s largest family-owned sheep and wool operations, said Victoria’s wild dog legislation directly impacted on south-eastern South Australia.
He said both he and Primary Industries Minister Clare Scriven had written to Victorian parliamentary counterparts about the issue.
“Dingoes and wild dogs don’t respect state borders and they cannot coexist with sheep flocks or native wildlife like the malleefowl if they’re forced to compete for habitat,” Mr McBride said.
He also questioned “ongoing” attempts to release dingoes into national parks, despite Parks Victoria shelving plans in 2021 to release dingoes into the Gariwerd National Park in the Grampians.
“Victoria wants to introduce the dingo into the high rainfall zone and keep the strain pure, well how are they going to do that with the level of wild dogs already out there?” he asked.
“One of the answers may be that if they want to have wild dogs in national parks, then they’ll have to fence them in, and provide water points for them.”
The Victorian environment minister and shadow environment minister were contacted for comment but did not respond.
