The Department of Environment and Science (DES) has released footage downloaded from the camera collar fitted to an adult wongari (dingo) in May.
Ranger in Charge at DES, Linda Behrendorff said the world-first experiment captured 30 seconds of footage every 15 minutes and provided crucial insights into the movements of wongari around K’gari (Fraser Island).
“The camera and tracking collar, developed by LOTEK, has uncovered the secret lives of wongari,” Ms Behrendorff said.
“This is superb footage and shows us where the wongari goes, how and where he finds food and water and gives us an intimate view of the time he spends with his mate.”
She said that, for almost a month, the camera collar captured footage of the wongari and tracked him travelling hundreds of kilometres throughout the northern part of the island.
“We can see him and his mate loitering at the Orchid Beach township and being photographed by residents or visitors,” Ms Behrendorff said.
“There’s a scene where he’s eating berries in the bush and fish on the beach and another scene where he’s eating alongside his mate in bushland.”
The Ranger in Charge said the vision showed the wongari and his mate high in the dunes and looking down on the beach, running through the bush, around inland water bodies, along the tracks and waking up in the morning together.
“We have never seen anything like this before and it shows that wongari are opportunistic feeders, taking advantage of any food source they find,” she said.
“Tracking collars are one of a number of management techniques we use to monitor wongari after increased risks of negative interactions or incidents with residents or visitors to the island,” Ms Behrendorff said.
The DES’s wongari camera collar footage can be viewed at this PS News link.
