Old dingo to reach 19

THE world’s oldest living dingo is getting ready to celebrate her 19th birthday with family in Darwin.

Owner Fiona Sylva said her dingo Toffee, who is believed to be the oldest of her species, would turn 19 on May 14 – almost four times the average age of her kind.

University of Southern Queensland dingo expert Ben Allen said it was extremely rare for a dingo to reach Toffee’s “geriatric” age.

“This is impressive for a dingo, it’s the equivalent of a human turning 180,” he said.

“Dingoes normally live until 4-7 years in the wild and those numbers go up in captivity.”

He said as far as they knew, Toffee was the oldest living dingo in the world since the previous record holder, an 18-year-old dingo called Kinsey living in the Rockhampton Zoo, died in 2017.

Ms Sylva said she took in Toffee as six-week-old stray pup in 2000.