July 4, 2015
Some of the Durong Dingo Sanctuary’s immediate fencing problems have been solved … thanks to fundraising, generous donations and the help of a bunch of eager young volunteers.
Sanctuary owner “Dingo Simon” said Global Engineering and Construction in Kingaroy – the company hired by Moreton Resources to remove some of the above-ground infrastructure at the old Cougar Energy underground coal gasification site at Coolabunia – had donated 850 fence posts, 2.5km of fencing, 9km of barbed wire and 6km of plain wire to the Sanctuary.
Simon urgently needed the fencing to satisfy the requirements of Biosecurity Queensland that he build five new enclosures to separate his animals during the breeding season.
This followed the surprise birth of four white dingo pups last year by Honey, a dingo which was previously thought to have fertility problems.
Simon had to organise the removal of the fencing items from the UCG site and its transportation to Durong, which cost an estimated $3000.
And at the other end, he faced the problem of construction.
That’s where the students from the University of Queensland lent a hand.
A team of four Third Year Applied Science students, majoring in wildlife science and completing a Certificate IV in Captive Animals, have just completed a five-day stint at the sanctuary.
They have been helping Simon to build enclosures, erect fence posts, strain wire, lay concrete slabs as well as gaining a heap of experience handling dingos.
They have also been helping to clean up the enclosures, ie picking up dingo poo.
Despite this, they were all smiling when southburnett.com.au dropped in on Friday.
Jeffrey Hendry, from Berry in NSW, said he had been surprised by the difference in behaviour between dingoes and domesticated dogs.
He said the dingoes had been inquisitive but wary; they were not like a dog that would greet a visitor with a wagging tail.
“They are more like a cat than anything else,” he said. “It has definitely been an eye-opener.”
The students quickly became used to waking up in the mornings to the howls as the Sanctuary’s 18 pure-bred dingoes greeted a new day.
“It was beautiful,” student Stacey Ashton said.
Simon will have another four students from the same university course staying with him next week, which should mean all the new enclosures will be quickly completed.
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Once again thank you for coming out to the Sanctuary to interview the students. These students were a massive asset, and somehow even though I am still on four types of painkillers to dull the pains from my Crohns Disease and Peripheral Neuropathy, I seem to draw energy from the youth of these students to keep up with them. Their interest and enthusiasm made a great change for me during their brief but short stay here.I think great friendships have been forged due to the connection with my dingoes.
Well done everybody.
Great work to all of you who helped Simon. I’m sure Simon greatly appreciated it and can sleep better at night knowing Biosecurity will be content. It is so good to see our younger generation getting involved in such a worthy cause. Our dingos need all the help they can get to educate the public on their vital role in our ecosystem.