SA farmers fear wild dog boom if Wilkerr dingo population is protected - ABC News & Headlines – Australian Broadcasting Corporation

The federal government is assessing whether to protect an isolated population of dingoes referred to as Wilkerr. (Supplied: Big Desert Dingo Research)

SA farmers on the Victorian border fear they will lose animals to wild dogs if the federal government recognises an isolated dingo population as critically endangered.

A SA government biosecurity expert has questioned the science around the genetic research of the Wilkerr.

The federal government will hold public consultation as part of the assessment with a decision to be made by 2029.

Tony Thomas fears he will not be able to protect his lambs from a wild dog population that is increasingly migrating across the Victorian border into South Australia.

Better rainfall after several years of drought has increased the number of lambs born at the third-generation farmer's property, just south of Pinnaroo.

But his concern of losing his young animals to wild dogs has reached new heights after a proposed protection order for the Wilkerr dingo population was made to the federal government.

Tony Thomas says the sandy land he has moved the sheep from was unsuitable for cropping. (Supplied: Tony Thomas)

Conservation organisations Big Desert Dingo Research and Australian Dingo Foundation, as well as the Dingo Conservancy, made submissions to the independent Threatened Species Scientific Committee to consider Wilkerr as critically endangered, raising concerns about the ecological effect of losing the apex predator.

Mr Thomas said he was already concerned about wild dogs crossing onto his property from the nearby Ngarkat National Park, particularly after the neighbouring Victorian government declared the animals a protected population in 2024.

He said he had moved his sheep off 121.4 hectares of grazing land due to avoid attacks and to increase feed.

"There's enough stress in the farming game at the moment without having to put down injured stock," he said.

The Wilkerr is a totem species for the Wotjobaluk First Nations people, and is a dingo sub-population which lives in three national parks in north-east Victoria and the Ngarkat Conservation Park in South Australia.

Wilkerr are one of eight genetically distinct sub-population of dingo species in Australia.  (Supplied: Big Desert Dingo Research)

While wildlife ecologist Euan Ritchie was not involved in the nomination to protect Wilkerr, he is one of several researchers who have studied them, including using cameras to track movement and analysing scat samples to understand their diet.

Professor Ritchie said extensive land clearing for farming had isolated the dingo population leading to inbreeding, while poisoning had led to further decline.

Euan Ritchie says there could be about 100 or fewer adult individuals in the population. (Supplied: Big Desert Dingo Research and Deakin University)

Professor Ritchie said farmers could explore non-lethal approaches to protect their livestock including fencing, and using guardian animals such as Maremma dogs and donkeys.

In 2024, the Victorian government declared dingos in north-east Victoria a threatened species, resulting in farmers needing to request a permit to shoot, trap or poison them on private land.

If the federal government decided to protect the population, the Victorian government would be unable to overturn the ruling and South Australian landholders would be under the same restriction. 

SA primary industries department biosecurity officer Brad Page said declaring Wilkerr critically endangered could lead to an explosion of numbers and jeopardise the state's $1.7 billion sheep industry.

Brad Page says attacks in Victoria and sightings in SA have increased following Wilkerr protection in Victoria.  (Supplied: PIRSA)

He also questioned the science behind the genetic research underpinning the push to protect Wilkerr. 

"Scientists in South Australia and around the country have grave concerns with some of the research that's been published," he said.

It is a claim Professor Ritchie vehemently denies.

"If there are suggestions that the science is questionable, I guess we would need to see what evidence the people that suggesting that have got to demonstrate that," he said.

The department held wild dog management meetings last month at Pinnaroo and Shaugh, either side of Ngarkat, where Mr Page also outlined the threat they pose to cattle.

A federal environment department spokesperson said widespread consultation would be undertaken to determine if Wilkerr were at risk of extinction, including a public consultation period of at least 30 business days.