Dingo | Dingo pup â—¦

Whilst dingoes and domestic dogs can interbreed, much scientific studies are looking at how pure current dingoes throughout Australia are.

The Dingo breed once in a year with the female typically giving birth to between four to five pups per litter, although there appears to be instances where there are at least nine pups in the litter (as discovered in 2021 in Alice Springs, Australia). The pups are not independent until between six to nine months of age. Often a dominant breeding female will kill the offspring of other females, in the pack.

Dingo pup (Canis dingo), Alice Springs Desert Park
Dingo pup (Canis dingo), Alice Springs Desert Park

The dingoes themselves are described as having a ginger colouration, with a whitish chest and paws, although there are three main colourations, ginger or tan, black and tan, or cream white colour. They have a flatish tapering tail, that is usually carried low, and curving over the back under certain circumstances. The dingoes in the alpine regions have different coloration to those elsewhere, including a more bushy tail. In Central Australia most pure-breed dingoes are of the yellow form, with about one in twenty being coloured black and tan.

Enjoy the following images of orphaned dingo pups, that were handed in to the authorities (they are a protective species).




Check out our Dingo (Canis dingo) page for other information on the species.