Editing Dingo (section)

===Social behaviour===
The dingo's social behaviour is about as flexible as that of a [[coyote]] or grey wolf, which is perhaps one of the reasons the dingo was originally believed to have descended from the [[Indian wolf]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |editor-last=Macdonald |editor-first=David W |year=2006 |title=Other Dogs |encyclopedia=The Princeton Encyclopedia of Mammals |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton, NJ |page=619 }}</ref> While young males are often solitary and nomadic in nature, breeding adults often form a settled pack.<ref name=DK>{{cite book|editor1-last=Burnie|editor1-first=David|editor2-last=Wilson|editor2-first=Don E|title=Animal: The Definitive Visual Guide to the World's Wildlife|year=2001|publisher=DK Publishing|location=New York|isbn=978-0-7894-7764-4|page=185}}</ref> However, in areas of the dingo's habitat with a widely spaced population, breeding pairs remain together, apart from others.<ref name=DK/> Dingo distributions are a single dingo, 73%; two dingoes, 16%; three dingoes, 5%; four dingoes, 3%; and packs of five to seven dingoes, 3%. A dingo pack usually consists of a mated pair, their offspring from the current year, and sometimes offspring from the previous year.<ref name=jackson2003/>

Where conditions are favourable among dingo packs, the pack is stable with a distinct territory and little overlap between neighbours.<ref name=jackson2003/> The size of packs often appears to correspond to the size of prey available in the pack's territory.<ref name=jackson2003/> Desert areas have smaller groups of dingoes with a more loose territorial behaviour and sharing of the water sites.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Thomson|first1=PC|title=The behavioural ecology of dingoes in north-western Australia. IV. Social and spatial organisation, and movements|journal=Wildlife Research|volume=19|pages=543–63|year=1992|doi=10.1071/WR9920543|issue=5}}</ref> The average monthly pack size was noted to be between three and 12 members.<ref>{{cite book|title=Dogs, Zoonoses, and Public Health|year=2000|publisher=CABI Publishing|location=Wallingford|isbn=978-0-85199-436-9|page=31|editor=Macpherson, Calum N. L. |display-editors=etal}}</ref>

Similar to other canids, a dingo pack largely consists of a mated pair, their current year's offspring, and occasionally a previous year's offspring.<ref name=jackson2003/> Dominance hierarchies exist both between and within males and females, with males usually being more dominant than females.<ref name=jackson2003/> However, a few exceptions have been noted in captive packs.<ref name=jackson2003/> During travel, while eating prey, or when approaching a water source for the first time, the breeding male will be seen as the leader, or [[Alpha (ethology)|alpha]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Miklósi|first=Ádám|title=Dog Behaviour, Evolution, and Cognition|year=2007|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York|isbn=978-0-19-954566-7|page=89}}</ref> Subordinate dingoes approach a more dominant dog in a slightly crouched posture, ears flat, and tail down, to ensure peace in the pack.<ref name=jackson2003/> Establishment of artificial packs in captive dingoes has failed.<ref name=jackson2003/>