Inferring interspecific killing of Red Fox by Dingo from wounds and inter-canine distance measures – and a call for more data

Abstract

ABSTRACT The role of the Dingo (variously Canis familiaris, C. familiaris dingo or C. lupus dingo, and hereafter C. dingo) in suppressing Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) populations in Australia has been investigated, with various data tending to show an inverse relationship between densities of the two species (e.g. Letnic et al. 2012; Johnson and VanDerWal 2009). There are very few examples in the literature where direct killing was either observed or inferred (but see Moseby et al. 2012), making each a valuable datapoint. Here, we present a short description of a young adult female Red Fox presumed to have been killed by Dingo in Myall Lakes National Park on the basis of: (1) the close proximity of a Dingo pack (within approximately 20m) to the carcass; (2) the overlap between recorded values of inter-canine distance in Dingo and the wounds on the Red Fox; and (3) the location of those wounds on the body.