Karrakin black cockatoo conservation centre is set to welcome a rare birth after alpine dingo Lillie was found to be pregnant to a bogong dingo.
An ultrasound this week confirmed a healthy litter of between five and eight pups.
Bogong dingoes were believed to be extinct in the wild but a few still remain in captivity.
Two bogong pups joined the dingo family at the Karrakin centre after their birth in 2011, along with Lillie and a Pilbara dingo called Sophie.
There were nine dingos at the centre.
Karrakin founder and City of Gosnells councillor Glenn Dewhurst, who bred and raised the dingoes, said this was the first time Lillie had been able to mate.
“Sophie was the alpha of the pack and she wouldn’t let Lillie mate so we separated her and put her with her dad,” she said.
“This year Lillie mated with Mitch, who’s a bogong dingo, which is really special because the litter will have the bogong DNA.”
He said while alpines and bogongs sometimes mated because they were from the same region in Victoria, they either produced one breed or the other in their litters rather than a mix.
He said in this case Lillie was carrying alpines because a bogong litter only produces one pup.
“They will be alpine but they have bogong in them and we know that sometimes they will throw back a bogong, which means we could produce more down the track,” he said.
“Our previous litter in 2011 were all August births and this litter will be born in August too.”
He would be looking for a good home for the pups once they were old enough.
“Obviously people will need to prove they can look after them but getting them out into the community is the only way we’re going to bring back the breed,” he said.
“That will help support the Karrakin black cockatoo conservation centre.
“Dingoes can make great pets but the pure breeds are becoming endangered as we see more people cross them with dogs.”
Mr Dewhurst said people who may not be able to take on a dingo pup could support Kaarakin’s work with endangered animals by donating to it or by becoming a sponsor.
For more information about the dingo pups email glenn@kaarakin.com and for information about the centre visit www.blackcockatoorecovery.com.
