Past research on dingoes Canis lupus dingo indicated that ‘pure’ populations were threatened by hybridisation with domestic dogs, C. l. familiaris. Other work showed that methods of control affected their social systems. Understanding the ecology of dingoes can help to engender the use of adaptive sustainable management techniques rather than a reversion to lethal control. Reports of impacts of dingoes on livestock production have neglected the role of dingoes as a hypercarnivorous trophic regulator.

This study proposes that dingo predation on livestock can be managed by adapting livestock husbandry to suit Australian environments. Livestock enterprises affected by predation should be encouraged to:

• Reduce local attractants, such as unspayed domestic dogs; and

• Increase use of deterrents, such as guard animals.

Culling by appropriate authorities of troublesome individual dingoes involved in persistent predation of livestock should be an option only if the pastoralist has reduced attractants and increased deterrents. It is anticipated that adaptive management of livestock, in association with recent understanding of dingo biology, will reduce conflicts, assist objectives for conservation and improve biological stability in unstable Australian ecosystems.