If you take a look at the number of dog breeds we have today, it might seem like a lot. However, if you take a really close look at history, you’ll realize that there actually used to be more.
The New Guinea singing dogs were considered to be extinct in the wild.
In fact, for five decades, that was what experts believed in. The only ones who still live today are those in captivity. There are about 200 of these dogs in zoos and conservation centers around the world. They are mainly descendants of the wild dogs that were put in captivity in the 1970s.
Well, that’s what they thought.
Some researchers were shocked to spot a pack of wild dogs while they were in the highlands of Papua, Indonesia. It was in 2016.
A couple of years later, they decided to come back.
They returned with the goal of collecting blood samples from the dogs. They wanted to get more data regarding their behaviors, demographics, and physiology to determine if the dogs are truly related to New Guinea singing dogs.
The results of their tests shocked them.
The wild dogs they tested had a 70% genetic overlap with the singing dog population in captivity. This means that the dogs are really closely linked to each other. In fact, their link is closer than any other canine.
This discovery sparked hope.
“The conservation dogs are super inbred. [It] started with eight dogs, and they’ve been bred to each other, bred to each other, and bred to each other for generations–so they’ve lost a lot of genetic diversity,” -Elain Ostrander, a senior author of the study, shared.
Researchers are hoping to preserve the rare dogs through breeding.
Elaine Ostrander added:
“New Guinea singing dogs are rare. They’re exotic. They have this beautiful harmonic vocalization that you don’t find anywhere else in nature, so losing that as a species is not a good thing. We don’t want to see this (animal) disappear.”
The New Guinea singing dog is a special type of dog.
The dogs belonging to this breed are quite popular for their unique vocalization. They have this melodious and distinctive howl characterized by a sharp increase in pitch at the beginning and really high frequencies at the end. A single howl can last up to 5 seconds
These dogs tend to do chorus howling. When one dog starts, others will soon follow. They usually howl together during the morning and evening. It’s well synchronized and ends nearly simultaneously.
The New Guinea singing dogs look quite similar to the dingo, but they’re a bit smaller. They have short legs and broad heads.
Their eyes are triangular or almond-shaped. They are highly reflective with colors ranging from dark amber to dark brown. When lights are shone on them, they tend to have this bright green glow.
Their ears, meanwhile, are pointed. They can be rotated, like how a directional receiver works to pick up minute sounds. This feature enables them to detect food and predators.
When it comes to diet, the ones in captivity don’t eat specialized meals. They do well with lean raw meat diets. However, the ones found in the wild fed on fruits, rodents, marsupials, and birds. They also eat wallabies and cuscuses.
Watch more in the video below.
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