Yeah, you're right to look worried mate. That's a dingo. Oh
god. Australia has its very own wild doggo and it's called the
dingo. Oh, but how deadly is it? I'm Ann Jones from ABC Science,
and it's my job to watch viral videos of dingoes.
The bastard's got my camera.
Stand still mate. Stand still.
While you're here, if you like this sort of video, why don't
you hit subscribe? And that way you won't miss it when we upload
the next one. Let's crack on.
Oh my god. I want to scratch the belly. Little white tootsies.
But dingoes are not domestic dogs. They're a wild animal.
They're closer to the grey wolf of east Asia than they are to
our blue heeler, right? They will have that more like sort of
greyhound-esque sort of body that goes really slim in the
abdomen, and pretty agile and muscular looking legs ready to
run around. And on top of that, really mobile joints and that
includes their necks because unlike domestic dogs, a dingo
can look over his shoulder. How you doing?
Oh, hello.
He, she, it's just used it's little snoot. I read about him
in a research paper that came out of Melbourne. There's a
dingo research institute there is such a complex set of
movements it's not only lifting the latch it's using its body
weight to push the door. But it's the ears that are the
problem mate. See that ear go bonk.
Ahhhh!! How cool is that? That is problem-solving at its
absolute very best. Tool use, especially spontaneous tool use,
as in tool used that isn't encouraged by humans, is a sight
to behold and extremely rare and hasn't been seen in other
canines. Next one. Hey, I'm here on K'gari. And it's really
exciting because there are two dingoes and one is coming
towards us. (laughs) This is one of my videos from Fraser Island.
And luckily I got Conway with me. He is going to tell us all
about 'em. Look, look.
Ann, they're wongaris in our language.
Wongari! Yeah. Conway Burns, who is one of the indigenous rangers
who works on the island, he gave me a lesson or two in wongari
culture.
Once upon a time there used to be two types of dingoes here.
Focus Ann. Focus.
There was your domestic dingo, the camp dingo.
Yeah.
Since all of our old people are gone they're all wild. They're
all wongari.
They're all wongari. On K'gari there's apparently like one to
200 dingoes and there's about 19 formed packs, and within that
they'll have a hierarchy that is policed constantly. Those below
will constantly be trying to rise and those above will
constantly be trying to stay on top and be the leader of the
gang. Like when you see them together, it's like watching a
soap opera. Yeah, only one can be top dog. Are we still
rolling? Next video.
Just stand still mate. Just stand still.
Good advice. That would be intimidating.
Don't just don't. All that stuff excites them.
No, that's okay.
What happens is sometimes when they're really excited, they'll
come in and nip and bite.
Play for them involves biting. Play for them involves
roughhousing and things like that. And of course, in amongst
themselves, they can deal with that. But if we get involved in
it, it's going to be a nasty bite or a nip to one of your
limbs. The difference between play and prey is nothing. Next
one.
I have lost my fiance the poor baby.
Maybe the dingo ate your baby.
The dingo ate your baby.
It was gonna come up at some point, right, this cultural
reference. And I think that that isn't actually making fun of
dingos, it's making fun of Australians. Yeah, look, dingoes
can be aggressive but they're nowhere near as deadly as bad
acting.
Hi, little dingo! Oh wait a second that's a whale! They will
eat anything. Dead crabs, dead fish, they'll rip apart
coconuts. They'll even ate human poos. So if you do have to go to
the toilet when you're on Fraser Island, you need to bury it
really deep or else.
(howling)
That vocal slip, the weeeerrr. I apologise to any cats watching.
Okay, campsite campsite. Oh, hi, I was just, I just wanted a cup
of tea and I'll take this as I go.
It's easy to be really scared of something and demonise something
that actually isn't quite as bad as we might make out. Consider
this every single year in Australia in public hospitals,
there are something like 12 to 14,000 admissions due to
domestic dog bites. So 98 dingo mullings over the course of 10
years versuses that, you can see what's more deadly.
Yeah, let's get another one in. Did it get someone's phone? Ah!
Look at those teeth. Longer than dog teeth apparently, longer jaw
as well. Woah, who's that? (laughs) Are they chasing it? I
love that the dingo pressed record.