Dingoes not a threatened species: reclassified as domestic dogs

Dingoes are no longer a threatened species, after Museums Victoria reclassified them as domestic dogs, undermining protections.

The dingo no longer meets the eligibility requirements for consideration as a threatened species under the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1998.

Dingoes can no longer be called a threatened species under Victoria’s Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act, undermining the Allan Government’s attempt to protect them.

Museums Victoria, upon which the Victorian Government relies to classify the dingo, no longer recognises it as a species of wolf, Canis lupus.

A Museum spokesman said it had recently adopted the Australasian Mammal Taxonomy Consortium’s current listing “that the dingo should be placed under Canis familiaris” – the same classification as domestic dogs.

The decision raises questions as to how dingo protection can continue under the Victorian Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act, given the Scientific Advisory Committee that listed it as threatened species relied on the Museums’ old classification of Canis lupus.

The SAC’s last review of the dingo as threatened species in 2021 stated: “In regard to the nomenclature that should be adhered to, the SAC abides by the agreed standard of Museums

Victoria, being the accepted state authority for faunal taxonomy.”

SAC’s review went on to state: “Museums Victoria currently (in 2021) recognises the dingo as Canis lupus dingo, which is also the gazetted name for the taxon listed under the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988.”

But Museums Victoria’s decision to now join the rest of Australia in classifying the dingo as a species of domestic dog – Canis familiaris, has several legal implications.

The reclassification would appear to mean the species Canis lupus no longer exists.

National Wild Dog Management Coordinator Greg Mifsud said Museums Victoria’s reclassification raised serious questions as to how the dingo could meet the eligibility requirements for consideration as a threatened species under the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1998, or any other Victorian Act.

It also raises questions about the validity of Environment Minister Steve Dimopoulos’ and Agriculture Minister Ros Spence’s decision earlier this month to protect all dingoes on public and private land in Victoria’s northwest, given their order refers to the dingo as Canis lupus.

The reclassification also appears to undermine Animals Australia’s Supreme Court bid to stop all dingo control in Victoria, given it is based on protecting Canis lupus and the government’s failure to protect what it terms a threatened species under the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act.

A government spokesman said: “In Victoria, the dingo is listed under the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 as Canis lupus dingo” and “under Victorian law, all native animals, including dingoes, are considered protected wildlife – regardless of taxonomy or nomenclature.”