Foxes
Foxes have spread throughout Australia, wiping out many populations of small native animals.
You can protect poultry and pets from foxes and wild dogs by building enclosures that:
- have a mesh or wire top
- are designed so that foxes and wild dogs can’t dig underneath.
For more information, please visit Queensland Government – Restricted invasive animals.
Wild dogs
A wild dog is any free-ranging dog without an owner. This includes domestic dogs that are homeless, dingoes, and hybrids of the two. These dogs are restricted under state legislation.
Domestic dogs may behave like wild dogs when unsupervised or unrestrained.
Dingoes are native to Asia and in Australia some domestic dogs have bred hybrids with dingoes.
Wild dogs weigh around 8 to 38 kilograms, depending on the breed of the parent dogs (dingoes weigh 12 to 15 kilograms). Their coats can be yellow, black, white, brown or any variation or combination of these. Some wild dogs may have larger heads in proportion to their body size, and larger canine teeth than domestic dogs. Wild dogs can live for up to 12 years, although most live only 5 to 7 years.
Food, water and shelter
Wild dogs can be found on farmland, on the outskirts of towns, in rural-residential estates or in forests and woodlands. Anywhere there is food, water and shelter.
Wild dogs will eat whatever is easiest to get when they are hungry. They scavenge and will hunt for live prey, or will eat dead animals and livestock, and scraps from compost heaps or rubbish tips. Wild dogs take small prey like rabbits, possums, rats, wallabies and bandicoots. When hunting in packs, they will take larger animals like kangaroos and goats. The young of larger livestock like cattle and horses are also vulnerable to attack. They usually hunt in the early morning and early evening.
They locate individual prey animals by sight, approach them silently, and then pursue them. A fleeing animal will encourage attack. Wild dogs rest during the day, often not far from water, and their travel routes to and from resting or den sites may be obvious. Their tracks depend on the size and weight of the animal, they are usually larger and more rounded than those of a fox.
Their homes are influenced by the availability of food. Wild dogs that depend on rubbish may remain in the area, while those that depend on livestock or wild prey may travel up to 20 kilometres.
Wild dogs are usually timid and don't often stray into urban areas unless encouraged. Dogs recently new to living in the wild or with regular close contact with people, may approach dwellings or people. Wild dogs are attracted to places where there is available food. Deliberately or accidentally feeding them can make them dependent on humans.
Social structure
Wild dingoes in remote areas live in packs, often of 3 to 12 animals, with a dominant (alpha) male and female controlling breeding. Packs establish territories (home ranges) which do not usually overlap. The size of a territory seems to be related to the availability of food in the area. Social structures may differ and packs may be less stable in farmland areas. This can be due to regular wild dog control programs and mixed breeds. Wild dogs, particularly dingoes, visit the edge of their territory regularly. This checking of the boundaries is known as the dog’s ‘beat’. Knowing a wild dog’s beat helps identify the best place to conduct control measures.
Breeding
Wild dogs are often heard howling during the breeding season which, for pure dingoes, occurs once a year, mostly between April and June.
Hybrid dogs have two reproductive cycles each year, although they may not always successfully raise young in each cycle. After a nine-week gestation, four to six pups are born in a den that provides protection from the elements and other animals. Dens may be in soft ground under rocks, logs, hollows or other debris.
Pups are suckled for 4 to 6 weeks and weaned at four months. Pups become independent of their parents when they are 6 to 12 months old. Those becoming independent at the later time having a higher rate of survival. Increased food supplied by people also enables more pups to survive to maturity.
Report foxes and wild dogs
You can report foxes or wild dogs:
