Original subtitles

The Australian dingo.

With his bright eyes and bushy tail,

he may look like a family dog.

But this is no pet.

(Growls)

This wild dog is an apex predator.

A hunter whose natural instinct to search for prey

has given him a bad name.

But this elusive wild dog also leads

a surprising hidden life of family devotion...

and strictly enforced social rules.

(Yelping)

The dingo roams across Australia,

a vast island continent,

home to some of the planet's most unusual and fascinating animals.

These are the secrets of the dingo.

Built for hunting, dingoes are so adaptable,

they can survive in a variety of habitats,

including mountains, deserts and forests.

From the sandy beaches of Fraser Island in Northern Queensland...

..to grasslands near Melbourne in South Australia...

..and the woods of New South Wales.

This is the story of three dingo families

who've established their homes

in very different habitats.

They're closely monitored and given names

by dingo conservationists.

Dingoes form a distinct sub-species of wild dog:

Canis lupus dingo.

They're genetically closer to the Asian Wolf than to the domestic dog,

with flatter, broader skulls, longer, more pointed muzzles,

longer canines and a whole lot more attitude.

(Barks)

Canis dingo is thought to have come to Australia

with Asian seafarers between three and a half and 5,000 years ago,

or even earlier, sharing the land with Aboriginal tribes

long before European settlers arrived.

Dingoes hunt rabbits, rats, even kangaroos.

But it's their hunting of domestic livestock

that has brought them into conflict with farmers.

Some states even require dingoes to be killed on sight.

Dingo numbers are in rapid decline

and the purebred dingo is now considered a vulnerable species.

In Victoria, a mostly temperate state

in the South East of Australia,

dingoes Saxon and Petal are preparing for a big event,

the birth of their puppies.

When it comes to breeding,

dingoes are different to domestic dogs.

They're pair-bonded, with dad Saxon

heavily involved in the arrival of his young.

Saxon needs to find somewhere

that will serve as a birthing den and cozy home

for his mate and new puppies.

He checks out a likely-looking hollow log.

Dingoes will often re-use the homes of other animals,

like rabbits or wombats.

They're looking for a secure, protected base close to a water source,

and they'll establish several dens in their home territory.

If disturbed in one home, they'll move to another.

This log seems to meet Saxon's criteria, which is lucky

because Petal has been pregnant for two months

and her due date is imminent.

Petal instinctively knows when the pups are due,

and goes into labor,

pacing around, sitting down

and getting back up again and again.

It's a sure sign it's nearly time

for her puppies to make their big entrance.

She's a placental mammal,

so she gives birth to well-developed live young

and the normal litter size can range between one and ten puppies,

although four or five is more typical.

It's an easy delivery for the first puppy.

Petal cleans the placental sac from the newborn.

Dad Saxon stands guard nearby.

20 minutes later,

puppy number two is also welcomed into the world.

Petal chews through the umbilical cord.

Unlike domestic dogs, which can have two litters a year,

dingoes only breed once

and always at the same time of year.

Females become pregnant

after the Australian Fall Equinox, in March.

This timing ensures that after weaning through the winter,

the puppies will have plenty of prey available in the spring

when they're ready to start hunting for themselves.

Right now, Petal's puppies are tiny,

weighing just a few ounces.

They're blind and helpless,

and won't open their eyes for a couple of weeks.

With just one chance to breed a year,

it's important that Petal makes sure all her puppies survive.

Saxon will have to wait until Petal's finished giving birth

to find out how many puppies he's having.

Further north, in New South Wales,

are Comet and her mate Bomber.

A pair bond like theirs usually lasts for life.

Like wolves, dingoes have a defined social structure

where only the top or alpha dogs have puppies.

They also can live in packs like wolves,

with up to ten members

including mature adults of both sexes,

extended family members,

as well as last year's offspring.

This alpha pair already has four healthy puppies.

Last year's offspring, Tom and Harold,

are still living with their parents Comet and Bomber.

They'll probably leave the family next year

to live alone or join another pack.

But for now they're still learning from their parents.

As both father and alpha male, Bomber has a big job.

He must keep order in the ranks...

..teach his puppies everything they need to survive...

..and protect his family from any other dingoes

that want to take over his territory.

Bomber recently took on a male from a neighboring pack.

He won the fight, but received this wound to his face.

It's a small price to pay.

If the invader had beaten Bomber,

he would have killed all of Bomber's puppies so he could mate with Comet,

and repopulate the pack with his offspring.

So the puppies are fortunate their dad was the victor,

and they can play in the sunshine

and suckle from mom Comet.

She's had an average number of pups,

but raising them would be almost impossible without Bomber's help.

Unlike many animals, both the male and female dingoes

share parental responsibilities.

Dingo dads regurgitate food for their puppies

once they start eating solids,

help protect and care for them,

and teach them everything they need to survive,

right up until they're adults.

After seven weeks of suckling,

the puppies are fat and flourishing.

The first four weeks of their lives,

they were suckling every few hours,

but now they're starting to move towards weaning.

They'll continue to take milk from their mum

for around another five weeks,

but they're also starting to eat solids.

Soon, their parents will teach them

how to find small food items like caterpillars and beetles,

which will make them less reliant on Mom and Dad

and be handy skills for when food is scarce in the winter.

Now they're exploring their environment all the time,

making regular forays out from their lair, a hollow log.

Their older brother Harold greets their mum, Comet.

And the puppies want to say hello too.

But it seems that this makes Harold uneasy.

Although these are his siblings,

they're also the puppies of the alpha male and female,

and he's very cautious around them.

Harming them, even accidentally,

could mean repercussions.

As Comet returns, it's a good excuse to beat a hasty retreat...

..and for the puppies to return to suckling.

At 12 months old, Tom and Harold

must find their own food, and regularly go out together

on hunting expeditions.

But they often end up down by the river,

just relaxing and doing a bit of grooming.

At a year old, they have all the right equipment for hunting.

Sight, smell and hearing are all working at optimal levels...

..and outstrip many of their prey animals' senses.

They're already proficient in catching small prey

like rabbits, bushrats and mice.

But without experience,

they don't have the confidence or skill level yet

to bring down anything larger, like a wallaby or kangaroo.

What they're working on at the moment

is a very useful dingo trick...becoming invisible.

Tom and Harold have the prevalent gingery tan dingo coloring,

although some dingoes can be black, light cream

or even black and tan.

The classic tan coat has many advantages

in the Australian landscape.

Against the dry grasses of the pastureland,

just lying down makes them very hard to see.

Mastering the use of cover, like bushes and undergrowth,

is a handy hunting strategy.

They are predominantly pursuit hunters,

but watching their prey's movements while undetected

means they can track the direction of the animal

and pick out a potential target.

But when it comes to the actual pursuit,

Tom and Harold still need training,

and the best way to get that

is to go hunting with their experienced dad, Bomber.

As they meet up for the hunt,

the three males make it evident from their body language

they have a clear understanding

of the power structure here.

Bomber's tail is carried high and is fully erect,

forming almost a full circle, and his head is also high.

Tom and Harold hold their tails and heads lower

to show subordination to their dad and pack leader.

With everyone assured of their place in the pecking order,

they can set off.

Bomber sizes up the landscape and sniffs the wind.

Like a dog, his sense of smell is around 100 times keener

than that of a human.

His ears can rotate individually

to pinpoint the exact position of his prey.

He has 180-degree vision,

and can see movement up to half a mile away.

And to take down a bigger kill, dingoes work together.

Dingoes can read each other's body language extremely well

and when they can see Bomber is ready,

all three set off across the meadows.

Today they're targeting birds, a dingo staple,

especially the slower-moving bigger birds like geese.

But they'll go for whatever's around, like waterbirds.

The coots on the water are too hard to reach.

But the meadows are full of gamebirds.

The chase is on.

Like wolves, they use initial speed to try and catch their target

but then rely on their stamina and endurance

to wear down and exhaust the prey

until it can be dispatched by the pack.

As pursuit specialists, they can reach speeds of 30 miles an hour.

But this time it's no match for a pair of wings.

(Screeching)

Hunting is exhausting work.

The three rest to recuperate their strength.

Dingoes are opportunistic feeders

and as well as actively hunting food,

they will eat whatever they can find

such as carrion, insects, lizards, even fruit.

Still hungry, the threesome sets off

to see what else they can find.

Bomber and his family live near some rich pastureland,

and it's not long before they catch the scent of a cattle herd.

As the top Australian predators,

dingoes in large packs are a threat to sheep and young cattle.

And it's made them a target of hate for farmers.

But dingoes aren't all bad news.

They play a key role

in keeping the kangaroo and rabbit populations down.

Which can mean more grass for livestock.

And they prey on introduced feral animals like foxes,

which can improve the survival of native species,

including small marsupials.

Dingoes hunt as a pack,

and the only way they can bring down big game

is to work cooperatively.

Bomber sends son Tom in from one angle...

..while he and Harold flank.

It's a classic pincer movement technique.

But prey selection is a key part of a successful hunt.

These cows are around 47 times

the weight of Bomber and Harold.

And one well-placed kick or horn-stab could take them out.

The dingoes look for the old, the weak... or the young.

They've spotted a calf in the middle of the herd.

Like many hunting animals,

the dingoes' prey drive is triggered by movement.

The more agitated the cattle become,

the more the dingoes become intent on following them.

But they soon realize that three dingoes

is nowhere near enough to bring down even a calf.

(Angry lowing)

The dingoes have to accept defeat.

It's been an unsuccessful hunt.

And Bomber is clearly upset about something.

Harold has apparently stepped out of line.

(Snarling)

(Barks)

When dominance displays don't convince Harold who's boss,

Bomber escalates to nipping.

(Yelps)

(Barks)

Harold's body language plainly states: 'I submit.'

His lips are curled right back,

exposing the long canines

that differentiate him from the domestic dog.

And his tail is right down between his legs.

But he's still a little bit defiant...

(Barks)

..so Bomber needs to finish making his point,

and circles Harold until he stands down

and gives way to his alpha.

It's important for the cohesion of the group

that Bomber's command is emphasized.

Finally, Bomber is satisfied,

but for today, the two part ways.

Harold is left alone in the meadow.

Unlike domestic dogs, dingoes rarely bark.

Instead they howl...

(Howls)

..and yowl.

(Yowls)

This eerie wolf-like noise

is not completely understood by scientists.

But it seems the significance of the howling changes

according to the situation.

(Howls)

They use it to locate other members of the pack,

and even to warn neighboring packs of their approach

at a shared water source.

This will minimize conflict between the packs.

Unencumbered by his sons,

Bomber sets out on one of his most important jobs as alpha male:

territory marking.

The chemical messages he leaves are full of information.

Most likely serving as a warning to any other dingo

with thoughts of violating his borders:

'This is my territory, and I'm actively patrolling it.

Stay out!'

Bomber's found a patch of another animal's urine on the ground.

This rolling may be to disguise his own smell while hunting,

or perhaps to advertise where he's been

to the rest of the pack.

Territory marked, he can head back to find the others.

(Howls)

On Fraser Island, Luke and Ivy are out scavenging.

Lying just off the east coast of Australia,

Fraser is the world's largest sand island.

Over 600 square miles

of isolated, pristine habitat.

Its lakes and woods offer ideal homes

to a colony of around 120 dingoes.

One of the biggest threats to the future of the dingo

is the cross-breeding or hybridization that happens

when they mate with domestic dogs.

And so, the dingoes of Fraser Island are thought to be

the most genetically pure

due to their isolation from the mainland.

Luke and Ivy are among the many dingoes who are tagged

as part of a monitoring scheme.

They live right next to the beach.

It's a popular spot for fishermen,

who often fillet their catch on the beach,

and bury the guts in the sand.

Luke and Ivy mostly spend their time beachcombing

for these hidden caches of fish entrails.

A dingo day is broken down into around 65 per cent activity

and 35 per cent resting.

So while Luke takes a snooze, Ivy goes out scavenging.

But even with her dingo super-nose,

she's not having much luck.

In ideal conditions,

she should eat around seven per cent of her body weight,

about two pounds of food every day.

She's finding a few small morsels, but nothing like enough.

For now, she retires back to the tree-line

away from the scalding heat of the beach.

Her coloring soon makes her invisible

as she merges into the undergrowth.

In Victoria, new parents Saxon and Petal

are taking their little family out for a morning stroll.

Petal had four puppies

and all of them are strong and vigorous.

Now six weeks old,

the pups need to get used to traveling the terrain,

as well as familiarizing themselves

with the sights and smells of the great outdoors.

Once the days get warmer,

the puppies will need to start preparing

for a more independent life.

As apex predators,

full-grown dingoes don't face many threats from other animals...

..but if the puppies wander too far from the pack,

they could still make a tasty snack

for a large bird of prey like a kite or eagle.

Mum and Dad must keep a watchful eye on all of them,

but it's hard when, like many toddlers,

wandering off at high speed is a specialty.

One of the female puppies gets separated from the others.

Overhead, a wedge-tailed eagle circles.

It's easily powerful enough

to make short work of a puppy.

Saxon must find his puppy fast.

He leaves the rest of the puppies with their mother

and sets off to search for his missing little one.

He scans the horizon.

His nose is working overtime.

But the little puppy is still oblivious to the danger she's in

and is now quite far from the rest of the family.

Saxon picks up her scent.

He finds her. The little pup greets him.

What looks like a kiss hello, however,

is really a request for food.

The little ones instinctively rise up and tap, sniff and lick

their parents' muzzles

as a signal for their parents to produce the goods.

But Saxon isn't obliging.

Back in Northern New South Wales,

mum Comet is at the family's base camp or lair,

watching over her puppies' afternoon nap.

They're eight weeks old now,

and already much more advanced.

As well as gradually weaning them from milk to solids

over the next few weeks Comet also needs to make them more self-reliant.

They must learn to be aware of danger, be able to find food

and look after themselves.

As summer approaches,

the dingoes will move on from the log

and Comet needs to make sure that the pups can survive

without her guidance and care.

She leaves them alone for short periods

to begin preparing them for adult life.

As soon as the puppies wake up,

they realize that neither Mum nor Dad are anywhere to be seen.

The boldest puppy, Mojo, sets off to find Mom.

He checks out the log...

..the fields...

..then goes even further.

Mojo totters all the way down to the water's edge.

The puddle of mud is a brief but welcome distraction.

He joins forces with his sister, who's looking for Mom too.

But the only adult they can find is big brother Harold.

He's just as uneasy around the puppies as ever.

At just over a year old,

Harold isn't long out of puppyhood himself.

And like many big siblings,

he's got no desire to hang out with the little ones.

Finally, Comet returns with some food she's found.

She's desperately thin

after suckling five voracious puppies for eight weeks

and doesn't feel like sharing.

(Growls)

But she needs much more than she's found.

She's not been able to hunt properly for almost two months.

It's been Bomber's job to feed her.

And today he's doing his job diligently.

It's not unusual to come across dead animals or carrion

in the Australian bush and Bomber's found a real prize...

..a wallaby carcass.

Comet greedily tucks in.

Bomber takes a relaxed position to one side,

and allows his mate to eat.

He knows now isn't the time to ask for a share.

Wallaby is a common prey item for dingoes,

and hungry Comet wants to keep this juicy dinner

all to herself.

Comet's able to slice through the wallaby's bone, sinew

and toughest gristle with the greatest of ease.

Her teeth are similar to that of a dog,

although her canines are longer.

At the back of her jaw, powerful carnassial teeth

easily shear through flesh and bone.

The puppies venture a move towards the meat.

(Growls)

The two bravest puppies make another try for the carcass.

Now Comet's got some down,

she's prepared to tolerate them.

Even at this young age the puppies are finding out

which of them is the more dominant.

(Growling)

(Yaps)

Little Mojo apparently isn't at the top of the pecking order.

Bomber decides he's been patient enough.

(Snarls)

But Comet's having none of it.

Bomber is forced to settle for a piece that she's discarded.

Comet and the pups have made short work of the wallaby.

(Growling)

They wash down their meal with a drink.

Dingoes can go days without drinking,

but when they have access to water,

they like to drink a pint or two a day

depending on how hot it is.

Time to settle down for a nap.

On Fraser Island, Ivy and Luke are still hungry.

Ivy has spent hours crisscrossing the beach

looking for fishermen's cast-offs

with very little to show for it.

Now it's Luke's turn.

He starts by looking for some crabs.

The crustaceans bury themselves

in holes in the sand.

But there are none in evidence.

And he doesn't find any buried fish guts either.

Luke and Ivy aren't doing well going solo.

Even with their super-smell, keen vision

and ears that can hear four times further than humans,

not every hunt is going to be successful.

But once they team up and after an hour of searching together...

..they unearth a large stash of discarded fish.

They tuck in, bones and all.

Back in Northern New South Wales,

Bomber's off hunting again.

Comet didn't leave much of the wallaby carcass

for anyone else in the family, so he's still hungry.

His hunting range is huge.

Dingoes regularly travel around 25 miles a day.

He investigates the forest...

..but his keen sense of smell

has picked up a scent around half a mile away.

He follows the trail...

..until he pinpoints the source of the smell inside a log.

But it's proving difficult to get to.

Bomber slowly demolishes the log.

Digging...

..scraping...

..even biting off wood to get to his prize...

..a dead rabbit.

Finally, he can enjoy a meal of his own.

It's a just reward for such a diligent dad,

who, belly full, returns to his mate and puppies.

Whether they're scavenging for food like Luke and Ivy...

..or raising the next generation of puppies like Saxon and Petal,

or teaching youngsters to hunt like Comet and Bomber...

..Australia's dingoes are fascinating canids.

Their defined social structure,

extraordinary communication skills

and remarkable devotion to their families

reveals that dingoes are far more than ruthless predators

and that they lead rich and complex lives.

(Howls)