Myall Lakes Dingo/Dapin Project

Since 2019, UNSW Sydney, in collaboration with Taronga Conservation Society Australia, has partnered with Mid Coast Council, National Parks and Wildlife Service NSW and the Taree Indigenous Development and Employment organisation to establish the Myall Lakes Dingo/Dapin Project (MLDP). 

The MLDP takes place on Worimi County in coastal NSW and is working to deepen our understanding of dingo behaviour and ecology, and to inform the management of this iconic apex predator by project partners. Eight family groups (or packs) of dingoes call the eastern section of Myall Lakes home, and the project’s annual population surveys indicate a reasonably stable population of approximately 27 individual dingoes spread between these packs.

Research focuses on the lives and impacts of these dingo families on the surrounding ecosystem and their interactions with people and other species. We use several approaches including camera-traps, direct observations and radio-collars to do so. Usually one member of each pack is fitted with a GPS radiocollar which allows the research team to track the dingoes and collect data on their movements, behaviour, and interactions. 

Each dingo family breeds annually in their own territory, which they defend from other dingoes. DNA research, also conducted at UNSW Sydney by Dr kylie Cairns, has confirmed that the dingoes in eastern Myall Lakes and are of high genetic purity. This indicates that the dingoes there have not bred with domestic dogs in recent times, despite having considerable opportunities to do so given their presence in and around the towns of the region.

Research conducted by the Myall Lakes Dingo/Dapin Project focuses on collaborating with local land managers, and improving human safety in areas shared with dingoes. Ultimately the goal is to ensure that local residents and visitors alike can enjoy living safely alongside dingoes, while the dingoes themselves are allowed to fulfil their role as a culturally and ecologically important predator in the ecosystem.  

The Myall Lakes Dingo/Dapin Project research team regularly share learning and provide advice to on-ground managers through monthly dingo working group meetings. These groups assemble key project partners, and information is shared on research updates and planned management interventions, increasing opportunities for MLDPs current research to inform targeted individual-focused evidence-based management outcomes. A wider consultation group is consulted biannually to provide input on research directions and interventions and consists of dingo experts, indigenous representatives from the Local Aboriginal Land Councils, social scientists, and a wider group of local land managers.

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