Mammalian diet and broad hunting strategy of the dingo (Canis familiaris dingo) in the wet tropical rain forests of northeastern Australia

The diet of dingoes (Canis familiaris dingo) in the Australian Wet Tropics was examined by analyzing 383 dingo scars collected throughout the region f or the presence of mammal prey remains. The scars yielded 29 native and 4 i ntroduced mammal prey species from 14 families. The most: important species in terms of percentage occurrence in the scars were Melomys cervinipes (22 .2%), Isoodon macrourus (17.0%), Perameles nasuta (12.5%), and Thylogale st igmatica (12.5%). The most important families were Muridae (37.1%), Peramel idae (29.5%), and Macropodidae (25.8%). Examination of small-scale habitat preferences revealed species that preferentially use the forest edge ranked significantly higher in the diet than chose that do not, and species that are terrestrial ranked higher in the diet than those that are arboreal. Rel ative abundance was also a significant factor in the ranked dietary occurre nce of each species, with abundant species ranked significantly higher than those that are less abundant. These results suggest that dingoes in the Au stralian Wet Tropics are opportunistic predators of a wide variety of mamma l species, with abundant terrestrial and forest edge-dwelling taxa the most susceptible to predation.