A close-up of a young dingo lying on the ground, gazing directly at the camera. Its large ears are perked up, and its fur is a mix of reddish-brown and light tan, blending with the earthy background.
A dingo stands in shallow water at the beach, proudly holding a fish in its mouth. The ocean waves roll gently in the background under a clear blue sky.
A dingo with reddish-brown fur lies on dry grass, yawning with its eyes closed. The background is blurred, featuring similar dry grass tones.

The real Dingo

Nature & Wildlife·1 x 53 min·Completed

Discover the real dingo: a misunderstood predator in Australia's Blue Mountains. Follow expert Brad Purcell's groundbreaking research into their secretive lives.

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Genre
Nature & Wildlife
Duration
1 × 53 min
Definition
HD
Audio
5.1
Status
Completed
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Synopsis

Say hello to the most controversial dog on the planet. Not even the big bad wolf can touch the dingo when it comes to fear and hatred. The dingo is after all a ‘baby killer’ and is loathed by many Australians.

But is our perception of the dingo the right one?  For the first time ever, a film crew sets out to discover what it takes to be a dingo. ’The real Dingo’ explores the intimate and secretive lives of dingoes in Australia’s Blue Mountains. We follow a pack as the pups emerge, follow them as they grow and eventually disperse into the big blue yonder.

This is only possible because of dingo expert Brad Purcell. For the past seven years he has been following a pack in a secret Blue Mountain valley. Last year, for the first time ever, he observed as adult dingoes taught their pups how to kill.
Brad believes that this training is essential if young dingoes are to learn the ropes and become proper predators. He thinks that the shooting and poisoning of adult dingoes leaves the pups without the necessary skills to hunt native animals. As a result they turn their attention to stock animals, and into pests and a danger to humans.

Brad’s access offers a unique insight into Australia’s top land predator. We reveal how the dingo – like its ancestor the wolf – uses cunning and calculation to take down larger marsupial prey. But perhaps most importantly we reveal how Brad’s research is helping to re-define the dingo.

Even though Brad’s pack (called Murphy’s) looks more like a motley crew of feral dogs than a pack of pure dingoes, he has no doubt that they are in everyway the real thing. He believes that they shouldn’t be classified by their looks but by their actions. And this viewpoint is courting controversy.

We use the latest science to explore how this controversial dog fits into the Australian landscape and how it has taken the role of top predator. It may not be a native animal but without the dingo many native species could face extinction. Understanding what it takes to be a dingo has never been more crucial.

Team

Written and directed by Duncan Chard
Executive producers Sabine Holzer, Ivo Filatsch
Production companies Produced by Humble Bee Films for Terra Mater Factual Studios

Awards & Recognitions

Redondo Beach, USA US International Film & Video Festival S-Silver Screen (Category: Documentary Programs - Nature & Wildlife) 2014
Banská Bystrica, Slovakia Envirofilm Nomination 2014
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