Kylie M. Cairns

Katherine Moseby

August 3, 2026

Feral cats likely kill far more Australian native animals than we thought: first DNA analysis

Oliver Aylen, UNSW ; Katherine Moseby, UNSW ; Kylie M. Cairns, UNSW , and Rebecca West, UNSW

We cannot fence the whole of Australia. Therefore, we need to know which species are most at risk from cats.

Line Knipst/Pexels

January 28, 2026

Will killing dingoes on K’gari make visitors safer? We think it’s unlikely

Bradley P. Smith, CQUniversity Australia and Kylie M. Cairns, UNSW

Following the death of a young backpacker, the Queensland government has killed dingoes seen near her body. But will this cull protect tourists?

A typical ginger dingo from the Strzelecki Desert. Matthew Brun, QLD

November 24, 2025

Impacts of colonisation on dingoes are ‘written in their bones’, new research finds

Kylie M. Cairns, UNSW ; Mathew Crowther, University of Sydney; Melanie Fillios, University of New England, and Mike Letnic, UNSW

Just like everyone and everything else that was already in Australia when the First Fleet arrived in 1788, dingoes had to adapt to their new reality.

Miguel Cuenca/Pexels

November 13, 2025

Dogs 10,000 years ago roamed with bands of humans and came in all shapes and sizes

Kylie M. Cairns, UNSW and Melanie Fillios, University of New England

Two new studies suggest the story of dogs and their relationship with humans is older and more complex than once thought.

Kylie Cairns

August 21, 2025

Dingoes are not domestic dogs – new evidence shows these native canines are on their own evolutionary path

Kylie M. Cairns, UNSW ; Bradley P. Smith, CQUniversity Australia; Euan Ritchie, Deakin University, and Thomas Newsome, University of Sydney

New research suggests dingoes are distinct enough to have their own scientific name. If this is accepted, it will have far-reaching consequences

Angus Emmott

October 2, 2023

‘The boss of Country’, not wild dogs to kill: living with dingoes can unite communities

Euan Ritchie, Deakin University; Bradley P. Smith, CQUniversity Australia; Kylie M. Cairns, UNSW ; Sonya Takau, Indigenous Knowledge, and Whitney Rassip, Indigenous Knowledge

It’s time to reconsider our relationship with the dingo. By collaborating and drawing from both Indigenous and Western knowledge, we can find ways to live in harmony with our apex land predator.

Jun Zhang, Shutterstock

May 29, 2023

New DNA testing shatters ‘wild dog’ myth: most dingoes are pure

Kylie M. Cairns, UNSW ; Mathew Crowther, University of Sydney, and Mike Letnic, UNSW

Dingoes are not wild dogs, research reveals. Most of the 307 wild animals sampled in this study were pure dingo. Australia’s apex predator deserves our respect after thousands of years on this land.

One in four of nearly 800 animals genetically tested were pure dingo. Michelle J Photography

October 31, 2019

Dingoes found in New South Wales, but we’re killing them as ‘wild dogs’

Kylie M. Cairns, UNSW ; Brad Nesbitt, University of New England; Mathew Crowther, University of Sydney; Mike Letnic, UNSW , and Shawn Laffan, UNSW

There is a myth that dingoes are extinct and wild dogs are all that remain in Australia. Our results show dingoes in New South Wales persist despite some mixing with domestic dogs.

An example of a typical dingo. Photograph depicts a male from K’gari-Fraser Island (Queensland). John Williams

March 7, 2019

The dingo is a true‑blue, native Australian species

Bradley P. Smith, CQUniversity Australia; Corey J. A. Bradshaw, Flinders University; Euan Ritchie, Deakin University; Justin W. Adams, Monash University; Kylie M. Cairns, UNSW , and Mathew Crowther, University of Sydney

Of all Australia’s wildlife, one stands out as having an identity crisis: the dingo. New research has found the dingo is its own species, distinct from ‘wild dogs’.

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