Dingoes dining with death

Dingoes (Canis dingo) are known for hunting and killing animals to meet their energetic requirements, but like almost all predators they also scavenge animal remains. To improve our understanding of dingo scavenging ecology, we investigated the role of abiotic and biotic factors in shaping carcass utilisation by dingoes and further determined whether dingo scavenging influenced carcass persistence in the landscape. To do so, we monitored visitation and scavenging by dingoes using remote cameras positioned on 119 kangaroo carcasses in open and closed canopy habitats and in warm and cool seasons. The carcasses were monitored across multiple study sites, which incorporated forest, alpine and desert ecoregions in Australia. We found that season played an important role in shaping carcass utilisation by dingoes, as well as carcass persistence. Warmer seasons increased the rate of carcass discovery 6.3-fold in the Forest study site and 4.8-fold in the Alpine study site, and also increased the...