After heated discussions online about what species Wandi was, the woman took the animal to be DNA tested
A woman who took in what she thought was a stray puppy after an eagle dropped it in her back garden has discovered the ‘adorable’ animal is actually a dingo.
She thought she had found a fox or a dog on her Wandiligong bushland property.
“I woke up this morning hearing a whimpering on my bush block, l can’t tell if it’s a fox or a dog,” she wrote on Facebook .
After heated discussions online, the woman took the pup, named ‘Wandi’ after where he was found, to the Alpine Animal Hospital.
Staff at the hospital sent a DNA sample off for testing to settle the matter, Yahoo News reports.
He was sent to the Australian Dingo Foundation’s sanctuary while they awaited the results.
“After weeks of anxious waiting, results from UNSW’s genetics lab revealed Wandi is a 100% pure Victoria highlands dingo,” the sanctuary posted on Instagram Friday.
“Wandi will become part of our breeding program, adding new genes to increase strength and diversity of our captive insurance population of pure dingoes we have at our sanctuary,” they added.
The foundation said the infant sustained injuries indicating he was seized from his home by an eagle.
“We believe Wandi was stolen by an eagle and dropped as he had sustained wounds on his back, and his nails were worn down suggesting he had travelled far on foot before being found,” the foundation wrote.
At the time he was found, many people in the Facebook group correctly suggested he was a fox.
“I reckon it’s a fox and you’ve got a little problem,” one person wrote.
The dingo is Australia’s only native canine and is protected in national parks under the Nature Conservation Act 1992.
However in some areas of Queensland they are classified as a pest.
