An Ancient Breed of Singing Dog Isn't Extinct in the Wild After All
Ed Cara
Yesterday 3:40PM
https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,pg_1,q_80,w_470/fkl7slpnxuy0u4lq9zvt.jpg
Photo of a Highland wild dog taken in 2020.
Photo: Anang Dianto, PTFI Papua Province, Indonesia
A breed of wild dog known for its lyrical sounds may not be as extinct as we thought, according to a new paper out Monday. The study details genetic evidence suggesting that the New Guinea singing dog—thought to have only existed in captivity for the past 50 years—is still alive in the wilds of Indonesia. The authors say their findings confirm that the New Guinea singing dog is in fact the same as the Highland wild dog, a dog that’s been spotted in the area in recent years.
New Guinea singing dogs produce distinctive, high-pitched noises, and, unlike domesticated dogs, they don’t bark or yip. They’re native to the remote mountainous Highlands of the island of Papua New Guinea, and they’re closely related to the dingos found in nearby Australia. Spanish navigators described the dogs in written records during the early 17th century, and archaeological evidence suggests the dogs have existed there for thousands of years.
These singing dogs were a rare sight to begin with, given their geographical isolation from humans and general shyness, though people living in the area would occasionally adopt them. But by the 1970s, they were assumed by scientists to have dwindled to nothing. Since then, various zoos and conservation centers have raised captive populations of New Guinea singing dogs, bred from a handful that were collected from the island, and their numbers are thought to be no more than 300 in total.
https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_scale,f_auto,fl_progressive,pg_1,q_80,w_800/hql6dvap2unbl4xqcsfw.png
Photo of a Highland wild dog taken in 2020.
Photo: Anang Dianto, PTFI Papua Province, Indonesia
In recent years, however, there have been several alleged sightings of wild dogs in New Guinea that look very similar to the New Guinea singing dogs; these dogs were named Highland wild dogs. Some conservationists were quick to suspect these Highland wild dogs were a surviving population of singing dogs, but the evidence wasn’t definitive. Other experts have argued that the first singing dogs bred in captivity over 50 years ago weren’t fully wild dogs at all, but dogs that had long intermingled with domestic breeds raised by local villagers.
More:
https://gizmodo.com/an-ancient-breed-of-singing-dog-isnt-extinct-in-the-wil-1844906068
= new reply since forum marked as read
"An Ancient Breed of Singing Dog" has to be a character somewhere in one of J.R.R. Tolkien's works.
Kind of cool looking.
You consistently post the best stuff, Judi Lynn. Thank you. 
It's stupendous knowing they've been maintaining their own identity out there, alone, so very, very long. They really don't look ferocious, vicious, scary at all, but I wouldn't want to test them!
Thank you, very much, Adsos Letter. It's a real adventure finding these articles. So much to learn!
