Djinaparli and her family first sensed a foreign presence when dingoes howled at planes soaring high above the desert.
asserted
dingoes → sense → desert
The Mangala woman and her family were unaware of colonisation, lived with dingoes and led a traditional life near Punmu in the Great Sandy Desert — about 1,400 kilometres north-east of Perth.
But in the early 1970s, a harsh drought swept the Great Sandy Desert, a vast area of about 300,000 square kilometres, stretching from the Kimberley coastline to the Northern Territory.
asserted
drought → live → Territory
The family group of around 20 people trained dingoes to hunt for them, but as the severe drought dried up regional waterholes, the dogs brought back fewer emus, kangaroos, and black-headed pythons.
asserted
dogs → train → emus
Survival meant leaving the desert.
asserted
Survival → mean → desert
Djinaparli was 12 when her family walked hundreds of kilometres to Anna Plains Station, bringing her pet dingoes — that she called family — from the bush into station life.
"We had them since they were little puppies, and we grew them up; they slept with us," Djinaparli said, speaking Mangala, with translation from Nyangumarta Ranger Lisa Toby.
asserted
Djinaparli → walk → Toby
At 68, Djinaparli sits in the Nyangumarta rangers headquarters courtyard in Bidyadanga, the wet season's heat pressing down on concrete over pindan.
asserted
heat → sit → pindan
To honour their "old people's" relationship with dingoes, the Nyangumarta Rangers commissioned the Wartaji ("dingo" in Nyangumarta) research project in partnership with Central Queensland University in 2022.
asserted
Rangers → honour → 2022
The project aims to understand how dingoes move, what they eat, their environmental role, and interactions with feral cats and foxes across the Nyangumarta Indigenous Protected Area of the Great Sandy Desert.
asserted
they → aim → Desert
Djinaparli says she is happy about the project, as rangers load cameras, tracking collars and scat kits into four-wheel drives and head for their latest stint in the desert.
asserted
rangers → say → desert
The research involves driving hundreds of kilometres inland from Bidyadanga and setting up camp.
asserted
research → involve → camp
Camel tracks ring the camp as rangers wake in their swags, surrounded by scrub and terracotta-coloured sand.
asserted
rangers → ring → scrub
They drive into the trackless country.
asserted
They → drive → country
Nyangumarta ranger Roberta Hunter grips her GPS as the car jolts over rock and dunes, with ranger coordinator Sarah Wilson at the wheel.
asserted
car → grip → wheel
Hidden in the spinifex is a camera.
asserted
camera → hide → spinifex
Ms Hunter explains the motion-activated devices track dingoes, which have been recorded eating feral cats.
asserted
which → explain → cats
"It's good when the dingoes eat cats, because they are killing our precious animals, like the Greater Bilby and desert mouse," Ms Hunter said.
asserted
Hunter → eat → Bilby
A single feral cat roaming in the desert kills more than 700 small animals per year, according to WA's Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
uncertain
cat → roam → Biodiversity
Nyangumarta ranger Elliot Hunter said the cats were growing much larger than usual.
asserted
cats → say → ?
"They are bigger than normal pet cats; last week I saw one that was similar size to a dingo," he said.
asserted
he → see → dingo
The average weight of a domestic cat is four kilograms; however, feral cats are regularly reaching six kilograms.
asserted
cats → reach → kilograms
"They are really destroying our habitats, killing our birds, reptiles, and marsupials," Mr Hunter said.
"It's good the dingoes are bringing them down."
asserted
dingoes → destroy → them
The project's scat research over the last six months shows dingoes now get nearly 30 per cent of their diet from feral cats.
asserted
dingoes → show → cats
Ms Hunter is not surprised the dingoes are hunting the cats.
asserted
dingoes → hunt → cats
"We look after the dingoes, and then they look after us, our country," she said.
asserted
she → look → us
A long day worth it
It takes hours of driving in the relentless heat to return to camp.
asserted
It → take → camp
One group blew four tyres crossing the rough country; another set out to help.
asserted
another → blow → country
Lead researcher Linda Harper said it was the perfect time to track how four dingoes were migrating with modern satellite collars.
asserted
dingoes → say → collars
"We are currently looking at their movements; they're called Venus, Elliot, Carlo and Robin," she said.
asserted
she → look → movements
"Elliot, Carlo and Robin are a family; we have located their den."
The dingo trio were found in Walyarta —a dried-up wetland leading into a dry salt lake where rangers suspect dingoes have been digging underground for water.
asserted
dingoes → locate → water
"They travel around 80 kilometres a week together," Ms Harper explains.
asserted
Harper → travel → kilometres
"There's enough water and food for them not to travel far."
asserted
them → be → ?
Venus, by contrast, covers more than 180 kilometres a week.
asserted
Venus → cover → kilometres
Rangers found her in one of the driest patches along the Callawa Track on the desert's north-western edge.
asserted
Rangers → find → edge
Night has fallen by the time the last ranger vehicle returns, headlights bobbing across the desert like mobile moons, as the vehicle rolls into camp.
asserted
vehicle → fall → camp
But the long days do not bother Mr Hunter.
asserted
days → bother → Hunter
"Looking after these dingoes, it's a special connection to our old people," he said.
asserted
he → look → people
The Aporia