Captive dingoes smile for the camera

They might say never smile at a crocodile, but how do you get a dingo to smile for the camera?

That was the dilemma for RMIT University researchers using cameras to discover behavioural differences between dingoes kept in captivity and their wild relatives.

Collaborating with Healesville Sanctuary, scientific photography student Justine Philips and Professor Dayanthi Nugegoda from the School of Applied Sciences used a Nikon D700 digital camera and recording sheets to document the behaviour of six dingoes.

Unaware, the dingoes smiled for the camera every 10 minutes, eight hours a day over six days at the Sanctuary.

Using the data and images, the researchers then constructed a written account of captive dingo behaviour.

This was compared with accounts of their behaviour in the wild, and their role within human society before and after European contact.

The findings confirmed that although they do not need to hunt, captive dingoes retain their irreversible prey drive and are highly tuned in their environment.

They enjoy contact with familiar people but remain highly independent, and behave differently to domestic dogs.

"It was a fantastic opportunity and this research project has led me to go on to studying a Master of Animal Science in animal behaviour and welfare," Ms Philips said.

"Professor Nugegoda taught me biology in second year and I loved the lectures so much, with my third-year research project I was excited to able to combine biology and scientific photography and to work with her again."

Professor Nugegoda, who has studied and taught animal behaviour, had previously worked with Zoos Victoria and lived in zoos both in Sri Lanka and Singapore.

A Zoos Vic dingo poster has been created from the project and Ms Philips is now writing a book on dingoes.

The findings of the study are explained further on the Healesville Sanctuary website.

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