Dingo pups to make debut at city zoo later this spring
Dingoes are coming to Saskatoon.
The Saskatoon Forestry Farm Park and Zoo is getting ready to welcome two dingo pups this spring. They will arrive through a partnership with the Australian Dingo Foundation and the Oakvale Wildlife Park in Australia, according to a news release from the City of Saskatoon.
“We are just making the final arrangements before these pups start their journey to Canada,” said zoo manager Tim Sinclair-smith.
“This is a great opportunity for us to bring some exciting new animals to Saskatoon, allowing visitors of all ages to meet dingoes, most likely for the first time.
“It is also a great way to enhance our conservation, research, and education opportunities at the zoo.”
The dingo, known as Australia’s wild dog, can roam great distances and communicate with a wolflike howl, living a solitary life or as part of a larger pack, the city said.
Due to inbreeding with domestic and feral dogs brought to Australia by European settlers, our dingoes are “extremely rare,” eating wallaby, kangaroo and other small game like rabbits and rodents, Sinclair-smith said.
The animals, which typically weigh around 30 pounds, are naturally lean, with golden yellow coats and white markings on their chest, feet and tails.
The dingo pups will take over the space previously used for the zoo’s wolf enclosure, which is located across from the Meerkat House.
The Forestry Farm Park and Zoo is open from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. until the end of April. Summer hours, starting in May, are from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
It is also a great way to enhance our conservation, research, and education opportunities at the zoo.