1-minute read

For the small remaining population of New Guinea singing dogs (Canis hallstromi), the recent news that their clan is no longer classified as extinct in the wild was surely music to their petal-shaped ears. At one time, the melancholy howls of the extraordinarily shy canines could be heard at dusk and dawn throughout the mountain ranges of New Guinea. Unfortunately, for the past 50 years, their haunting vocalizations have only been heard in captivity. Declared extinct in the 1970s as a result of habitat loss, it was believed that only 200-300 descendants of eight captured wild dogs were left on the planet.

Now the rare animals may get a new lease on life in the wilderness thanks in part to the distinctive sound of their howling. According to researchers, New Guinea singing dogs (NGSDs) are the only wild dogs adept at bird-like trilling—a rapid change in pitch from high to low and back again emitted at five to eight different frequencies that is unmistakably different from the vocalizations of wolves, coyotes, and dingoes. Typically, a lead dog starts the chorus, and other canine songsters quickly chime in with well-synchronized howls that stop simultaneously. It was this unique capability for harmonic vocalizing along with genome analysis that helped an expedition from the University of Papua to identify an isolated group of wild dogs in the highlands of New Guinea as ancestors of the NGSD family of highly skilled howlers.

With more than 32,000 species currently at risk of extinction, the discovery that the NGSDs living in captivity are not the end of their line is encouraging news—dogs not gone after all. That’s truly something to howl about!

Conservationists hope that by diversifying the animal’s genetic pool, they will be able to increase the population of NGSDs freely roaming the mountains of Papua singing their ancient and beautiful song of the wild.

You can learn more about the history and hopeful future of the singing dogs of New Guinea from the New Guinea Highland Wild Dog Foundation.