Dingo

The dingo is a wild-living canine found across mainland Australia, believed to descend from domestic dogs brought to the continent by seafaring people several thousand years ago and to have since reverted to a largely wild existence, distinct in behavior and ecology from other dog populations. It typically has a lean, athletic build and a coat most often a sandy yellow to reddish color, though other colorations occur, and it is Australia's largest land predator, playing an important ecological role in regulating populations of smaller native and introduced animals. Dingoes are opportunistic hunters and scavengers, feeding on a range of prey from small mammals to larger animals such as kangaroos, sometimes hunting cooperatively in small packs. Hybridization with domestic dogs and control programs targeting livestock predation have raised concerns about the genetic integrity and conservation status of wild dingo populations in parts of Australia.