Euci and Maple are the newest additions to the Saskatoon zoo.
Tim Sinclair- Smith, with the Saskatoon Forestry Farm Park and Zoo, said the pair of adult female dingoes were born in Australia but will now call Saskatchewan home, permanently.
“The folks that come here to see the dingoes will see they like to run around, wrestle, play they’re fast,” he said. “They’re very intelligent, the most intelligent canines on the planet.”
The dingoes will be living in the previous wolf enclosure, next to the zoo entrance.
Sinclair- Smith said they are very proud of the dingo enclosure and public education spaced around the area.
“We believe it looks spectacular,” he said. “We think it’s very informative to support endangered and threatened species in Australia and spread the message about the plight of dingoes.”
The Saskatoon Forestry Farm Park and Zoo is the first and only current facility in Canada to have purebred dingoes, Sinclair- Smith explained. He said there were thought to be similar canines on display in Saskatoon in the 1960s but they were not true dingoes.
“We have actual records that they were actual hybrids,” he said. “They were what we call coy dogs, coyotes crossed with labradors crossed with a dingo.”
Sinclair- Smith said they believe the dingoes will be able to handle most of Saskatchewan’s colder temperatures but they will be moved indoors when the mercury drops to low.
“The alpine dingoes actually have a double coat,” he said. “That’s why they were chosen, as they would have a little bit more tolerance for the colder and shorter seasons.”
The Saskatoon Forestry Farm Park and Zoo is encouraging the public to stop by and give the pair a warm Saskatchewan welcome.