Oakvale Wildlife Park’s five new dingo puppies will be available to meet from this weekend.
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Starting on Saturday morning, the Salt Ash park will be running dingo encounters with the five pups that were born in July.
The pups are the first in Oakvale’s 39-year history to be born at the wildlife park. They are also the first litter Oakvale dingo Gili, aged 2, has given birth to.
“The truly exciting thing about our puppies is that they’re extremely rare,” Oakvale’s curator Lachlan Gordon told the Examiner when the pups were born.
What makes the five pups rare is their genetics. Mr Gordon said many of the dingoes in captivity are related.
Gili was paired with two-year-old dingo Hunter, both are products of the Australian Dingo Foundation, specifically because their genetics are “underutilised” in Australian zoos and wildlife parks.
Their pups are an all new pure genetic strain.
CONTENT WARNING: This video contains scenes of a dingo giving birth
“It is a significant step for conservation as the purebred dingo is endangered with not many left in Australia,” Mr Gordon said. “Both dingo mum and dingo dad are of some of the purest genetics in Australia.”
Dingoes have one litter per year, which is between four and six pups. Gili and Hunter were paired together in March. The gestation period is between 61 and 69 days.
Gili went into labour about 4.30pm on Friday, July 6 and gave birth to her final pup about 8.30pm.
As Gili was not large when pregnant, park keepers believed she would have a litter of four.
Mr Gordon, who was there for the birth, said the first three arrived quickly. There was an hour wait between the third and fourth, and another hour between the fourth and fifth.
The pups are sable and golden in colour and one is jet black. There are three colour phases for dingoes: golden, black and tan, and white.
The dingo encounters are an additional experience package, which is not included in the cost to enter the park.
The dingo puppy encounter costs $30 per person. Encounters last 10 minutes, during which the visitor can play with the pups and take photos with them.
The encounters will run between 11.30am and 2pm.
It is anticipated that once the pups are grown, they will be rehomed.
Ellie-Marie Watts
A journalist with 10 years experience, Ellie-Marie connects readers to the stories that matter in their communities. A Port Stephens-based news, sport and event writer and photographer with a passion for human interest features.
A journalist with 10 years experience, Ellie-Marie connects readers to the stories that matter in their communities. A Port Stephens-based news, sport and event writer and photographer with a passion for human interest features.
