Canis dingo

Canis dingo is a captivating exploration of one of Australia’s most iconic and polarising species. Drawing on two decades of scientific research, historical records and firsthand fieldwork, Bradley P. Smith traces how a wild canid became entangled in myth, law and livestock conflict, revealing what is at stake in the way Australia treats its apex predator.

As new scientific discoveries unsettle entrenched views, and awareness of the dingo’s ecological and cultural value grows, Australia is being forced to confront uncomfortable questions. Is the dingo a native species or a feral intruder? A wild canid or domestic dog gone rogue? A threat to biodiversity or one of its last remaining guardians? The answers matter, because they flow into real-world decisions that determine whether dingoes are protected or killed across much of the continent.

Blending field science, published research, historical evidence and expert perspectives, this book cuts through longstanding myth and political noise to offer a deeper understanding of the dingo and its place in modern Australia.

 "Beautifully written and literally bursting with factual information." – Lyn Watson, Founder-Director of the Australian Dingo Foundation 

"This is the book that all Australians who care about the dingo have been waiting for. Canis dingo is a deep and stimulating exploration of the environmental and cultural significance of the dingo, and its complex and contested place in Australian life. Written by one of Australia's key scientific experts on dingo behaviour, the book is based on a wealth of scholarly research, brought to life by Smith's many years of personal experience of dingos in the wild and captivity. Read this book to discover what a remarkable animal the dingo is, and for an informed perspective on the debates that surround it."
Professor Chris Johnson, ecologist and conservation biologist, University of Tasmania

"Canis dingo is, perhaps, this century's most important book on the relationship between humans and animals. It is essential reading for anyone who cares about canines. With an accessible style, Smith invites readers to grapple with the true identity of the Australian dingo: are they the clever, enigmatic spirit of wild Australia, or a villain and pest? At stake is not only how we see dingoes, but how we understand ourselves and our relationship with all dogs. As a leading authority on the Australian dingo, Smith confronts these questions by synthesizing a remarkable breadth of scientific research that will challenge and engage even the most knowledgeable dog experts. He demonstrates that dingoes are neither wolves nor domestic dogs, but a distinct species shaped by nature. The result is a powerful new understanding of these extraordinary predators and an urgent call for coexistence that can enrich our shared world. This is a book that truly matters, and a gift to anyone concerned with the future of the natural world on which we all depend." Professor Brian Hare, evolutionary anthropologist, Duke University, and New York Times bestselling author.

"Mirrigan and Country are inseparable. They play a role in dreaming, companionship, hunting and they help care for Country. Importantly, this book brings together diverse knowledges, and begins to reframe an ongoing and contentious issue, how we manage Dingo in this country. It asks the question of us, can we collectively work through generations of stigma and misinformation to respectfully work with Mirrigan to heal Country?"
Jack Pascoe is a Yuin man living on Gadabanut Country, Co-Chief Councillor of the Biodiversity Council, and Senior Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne

"I closed Bradley Smith's remarkable Canis dingo stunned at the similarity of the dingo story he tells to that of the coyote in North America. In America coyotes are held sacred by Native people, Old Worlders destroyed them by the millions as pests, yet the animals are now replacement predators for eradicated wolves. On the other side of the world the dingo exists in that same cultural and ecological soup. Perhaps the thylacine will return, but the dingo will forever be Australia's coyote, its own special wild canid."
Dan Flores, author of the New York Times Bestseller, Coyote America: A Natural and Supernatural History