HONG KONG: New research reveals that dingo may be the unlikely saviour of the native and endangered dusky hopping mouse.
Higher numbers of the dusky hopping mouse have been recorded in Central Australia’s Strzelecki Desert, which has a healthy population of dingoes, compared to other areas the native mouse inhabits.
An apex predator, the dingo seems to be offering indirect protection to the ducky hopping mouse by hunting on its predator: feral cats.
“There is a two-way effect between dingoes and cats. The dingoes supress cat abundance by outcompeting for food resources; cats also provide a food resource for them” says lead authour of the study, Christopher Gordon, from the University of Western Sydney.
The numbers of dingoes, cats and hopping mice were detected using nocturnal spotlight and sand plot techniques, over 89 sites.
