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WILD IDEAS

Have you ever considered a Dingo, a Dunnart or a Quoll as a pet? Whether native wildlife should be kept as pets, in preference to normal companion animals such as cats and dogs, is a topic surfaces frequently and its an interesting debate.

To some of Australias leading scientists, selling endangered species as pets is the way to save them from extinction. One view is that having animals in small scattered populations is better than concentrating them in larger numbers in reserves because it lessens the risk of them being wiped out in an ecological disaster.

Professor Mike Archer from the Australian National Museum in Sydney argues that the animals we are allowed to keep as pets are introduced noxious animals which damage the Australian environment. He states that we are allowed to breed these with impunity.

"We can raise them by the thousands and no one bats an eye but if we so much as look after one native animal we can be thrown in jail."

In most states, selling wildlife as pets is illegal but Professor Archer argues that a market for native animals with strict licensing would create a commercial need that would ensure their survival.

However commercial need can turn into commercial greed and not everyone agrees with Professor Archer.

The director of the Humane Society International, Michael Kennedy says 'The keeping of native animals as pets would result in many of them dying'.

'Few people know how to look after native animals properly and are likely to abandon them. The scheme could also increase illegal exports.'

He states that keeping native mammals as pets has no conservation benefits. 'Wildlife utilisation in the past has led to dire conservation consequences. The demand always outstrips the resource,' he said.

In Victoria, a three tiered licensing system has been developed for selling native wildlife. If a customer has obtained a licence and meets appropriate criteria, they can purchase native fauna from some pet shops. Rainbow lorikeets sell for about $275, Galahs for $45, Sugar Gliders for $400 to $450 a pair and a pair of fat-tailed dunnarts can be purchased for $185.

In South Australia, a basic permit to keep mammals such as the fat-tailed dunnart can be bought for $40. Most other states allow birds, frogs and reptiles to be sold with licences but owning native mammals is strictly banned in New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania and Western Australia.

'Dingos makes a lousy pets because they are wild animals'

The Dingo is an interesting example. Nationally, the Dingo is classified as a native animal, but each State and Territory has different provisions for the Dingo. In many parts of Australia it is regarded as a pest. In New South Wales, the Companion Animals Act has apparently transformed the Dingo from a noxious pest to a companion animal. So what would a Dingo be like as a pet?

There is a distinct difference between the Dingo and a domestic dog. The Dingo has been in Australia for at least three and a half thousand years and probably a lot longer than that. Hence its ancestry is that of a wild animal. Domestic dogs have been purpose-bred as companion animals for centuries. Through selective breeding we have refined our pet dogs to be pleasant companions that relate well to human existence. This is not so with Dingos. It has not been domesticated over the years and is closer, genetically, to the wolf than the domestic dog.

Barry Oakman, the President of the Australian Dingo Conservation Association, certainly has his views, which were expressed The Veterinarian.

'Dingos makes a lousy pets because they are wild animals' he says. 'They have unique requirements and demand a lifetime commitment.'

According to Mr Oakman who has been around Dingos for almost six decades, a captive Dingo is easily frightened, even after being socialised. The Dingos breeding cycles are quite different to domestic dogs with only one cycle per year, occurring between February and June. During this time the males will lose a great deal of weight and they are very noisy. The howling of a male Dingo can be heard up to 14 km away. The noise level alone makes them unsuitable for suburban life.

He also says that Dingos are well known escape artists and that aggression is their normal way of communicating - even with humans.

We have enough problems with escaping and aggressive domestic dogs without the introduction of the Dingo as a pet but from the Dingos perspective, would housing in a domestic situation suit it?

I doubt that very much. In my view, Dingos are not used to close confinement and the restrictions modern life would place upon them. If forced to live in the confines of a twenty-four-perch allotment, they would hardly be content. They are territorial and would not cope well with other domestic dogs in close proximity. Domestication for the Dingo - I think not! Leave it wild and leave it free!

What about other wildlife? Should they be sold as pets? While I can see some value in commercialising wildlife and making them more readily available as pets, how many of us could really cope with a Quoll or a Dunnart sleeping at the foot of our bed?

These animals need specialised care, unique housing and specific diets. They usually don't receive comfort from handling and patting and are not adapted to domesticity. Who has the qualifications to look after such animals? I certainly don't. For the animal's sake I am not convinced this is a good move.

What are your views?