WEBVTT - How Do Dingoes Work (and Did One Really Eat a Baby?)

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey, brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren Vogelbaum. Here just a heads up. This episode deals

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<v Speaker 1>with the accidental death of an infant. We're not getting graphic,

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<v Speaker 1>but if that's not something you're up for today, go

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<v Speaker 1>ahead and skip this one. And hey, take care of yourself, okay,

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<v Speaker 1>all right. There is a good chance that, especially if

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<v Speaker 1>you have consumed any kind of pop culture from the

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen nineties, you've heard the phrase a dingo ate my baby, exclaimed,

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<v Speaker 1>usually in a bad Australian accent. You too might have

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<v Speaker 1>said it been laughed heartily with your sick o friends. Yet,

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<v Speaker 1>if you weren't watching the news in the early nineteen eighties,

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<v Speaker 1>the chances are also good that you haven't heard the real,

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<v Speaker 1>unfunny story behind this statement. So today let's talk about

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<v Speaker 1>dingoes and whether they're dangerous and how they've ever gotten

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<v Speaker 1>near a baby in the first place. Dingoes are Israelia's

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<v Speaker 1>native wild dog that came to the Outback from Southern

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<v Speaker 1>Asia thousands of years ago. They're similar to feral dogs

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<v Speaker 1>in the US. Just to catch your name, the average

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<v Speaker 1>dingo is lean, with a body length of about four feet.

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<v Speaker 1>That's about one and a quarter meters and a weight

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<v Speaker 1>around thirty pounds or fourteen kilos, so the size of

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<v Speaker 1>a big, scrawny golden retriever, but with pointy ears, a

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<v Speaker 1>drooping tail, a pointed face, and a short coat in

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<v Speaker 1>shades of white, gold, orange, red, and black. Dingoes usually

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<v Speaker 1>travel in packs, though there are some lone wolf dingoes.

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<v Speaker 1>A pack will be led by a dominant dingo couple,

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<v Speaker 1>and that pair will typically mate for life. They're also

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<v Speaker 1>typically the only dingoes in the pack that will breed successfully,

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<v Speaker 1>as they suppress other breeding attempts and have even been

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<v Speaker 1>known to kill other pups born in the pack. They'll

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<v Speaker 1>breed once a year with about five pups in the litter,

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<v Speaker 1>and raising those pups is a whole pack affair. They

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<v Speaker 1>have a life span of around seven or eight years

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<v Speaker 1>in the wild and up to fifteen in captivity. Dingoes

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<v Speaker 1>are opportunistic hunters and scavengers. They eat mostly rabbits, rodents, birds, lizards, foliage,

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<v Speaker 1>and nuts. Like wolves, they're extremely smart, as smarter than

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<v Speaker 1>domestic dogs except yours. Of course. They're cute too, but

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<v Speaker 1>wily and unlike your dog. Dingoes have wrists that rotate

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<v Speaker 1>that means they can use their paws like hands. They

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<v Speaker 1>also have much bigger canine teeth than most domestic dogs.

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<v Speaker 1>Their limbs are double jointed too, and they can turn

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<v Speaker 1>their necks one hundred and eighty degrees around. They run fast,

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<v Speaker 1>climb with ease, and jump high. They also howl like wolves.

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<v Speaker 1>You might want to remember these facts for any future

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<v Speaker 1>camping excursions. Perhaps because of their intelligence, These canines are

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<v Speaker 1>generally thought of as pests by humans. Our tumultuous relationship

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<v Speaker 1>with them can be traced back at least as far

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<v Speaker 1>as seventeen eighty eight. That's when the British first took

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<v Speaker 1>sheep to New South Wales, giving dingoes a new easy prey.

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<v Speaker 1>By the eighteen eighties, dingoes were invading farms and rural communities.

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<v Speaker 1>The solution was to build the Dingo Fence, a fence

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<v Speaker 1>that crosses Australia for about three thousand, five hundred miles

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<v Speaker 1>that's around five thousand, five hundred kilometers. It still stands

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<v Speaker 1>today and is the longest fence in the world. The

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<v Speaker 1>population of pure dingoes has declined as many have bred

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<v Speaker 1>with feral dogs, domestic dogs, and hybrids, though the definitions

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<v Speaker 1>among those are sometimes contested. One place where pure dingoes

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<v Speaker 1>can still be found is on Queensland's Fraser Island, though

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<v Speaker 1>they're very predatory there, which has led to tragic incidents

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<v Speaker 1>with humans, which brings us to yes, it is sad

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<v Speaker 1>but true. Dingo has on record eaten a baby. Dingoes

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<v Speaker 1>generally don't attack people, but if they sense fear, they

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<v Speaker 1>are more likely to attack. Here's the story behind this tragedy.

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<v Speaker 1>In nineteen eighty, the young Chamberlain family went camping near

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<v Speaker 1>Australia's famous Oolaroo also known as Ayer's Rock in the

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<v Speaker 1>Northern Territory. A Lindy Chamberlain, thirty two years old at

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<v Speaker 1>the time, saw a dingo leave their tent and immediately

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<v Speaker 1>went to check inside it. She discovered that their ten

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<v Speaker 1>week old baby, Azaria, who had been sleeping in the tent,

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<v Speaker 1>was gone. A Lindy supposedly cried out to her husband Michael,

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<v Speaker 1>something along the lines of the dingoes got my baby.

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<v Speaker 1>The authorities were called and there was a large but

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<v Speaker 1>unsuccessful attempt to find Azaria. Many people heard about this

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<v Speaker 1>disturbing and horrific event and it stayed with them because

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<v Speaker 1>it's not every day that you hear about this kind

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<v Speaker 1>of animal attack. The incident was a big deal at

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<v Speaker 1>that time. Most people didn't think a dingo could or

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<v Speaker 1>would eat a baby. Authorities suspected Lindy of killing his

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<v Speaker 1>area and then concocting the story about the dingo. Ultimately,

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<v Speaker 1>she was arrested, tried, and found guilty of murder in

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen eighty two. Michael was also found guilty of being

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<v Speaker 1>an accessory after the crime. There was widespread media coverage

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<v Speaker 1>of the trial. People even picketed outside the courthouse with

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<v Speaker 1>signs that read the dingo is innocent. Dingoes dominated water

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<v Speaker 1>cooler conversation around the globe. Fast forward to nineteen eighty six,

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<v Speaker 1>both Lyndy and Michael's convictions were overturned when the police

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<v Speaker 1>discovered a baby's jacket near an area full of dingo layers.

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<v Speaker 1>It was as Areas. On September fifteenth of nineteen eighty eight,

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<v Speaker 1>the Northern Territory Court of Criminal Appeals unanimously quashed all

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<v Speaker 1>convictions against Lindy and Michael Chamberlain. That same year, a

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<v Speaker 1>movie known as Evil Angels in Australia and New Zealand

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<v Speaker 1>and as a Cry in the Dark elsewhere, portrayed the

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<v Speaker 1>tragic events of the case. The Meryl Streep and Sam

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<v Speaker 1>Neil starred as the Chamberlain's Finally, in twenty twelve, after

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<v Speaker 1>thirty two years, the coroner officially changed as Area's cause

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<v Speaker 1>of death to quote as the result of being taken

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<v Speaker 1>by a dingo. After the new ruler, Lindy addressed the court,

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<v Speaker 1>she said, obviously we are relieved and delighted to come

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<v Speaker 1>to the end of this saga. No longer will Australia

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<v Speaker 1>be able to say dingoes are not dangerous and only

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<v Speaker 1>attack if provoked. Two years later, Lindy was awarded one

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<v Speaker 1>point three million dollars for wrongful imprisonment the dingo had

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<v Speaker 1>taken her baby. Since the incident in nineteen eighty there

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<v Speaker 1>have been several more documented cases of dingo's attacking and

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<v Speaker 1>killing children, but the phrase truly entered pop culture due

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<v Speaker 1>to a couple other things. What Meryl Streep gave an

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<v Speaker 1>impassioned rendition of the line in that nineteen eighty eight film,

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<v Speaker 1>and then in nineteen ninety one, an episode of the

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<v Speaker 1>sitcom Seinfeld parodied it. In the episode, Elaine is annoyed

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<v Speaker 1>by a woman at a party who repeatedly and obnoxiously

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<v Speaker 1>says that she cannot find her fiance, whom she calls baby.

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<v Speaker 1>Elaine eventually leans toward the woman and, very clearly in

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<v Speaker 1>her best worst desay reliant accent, says, might be a

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<v Speaker 1>dango at you, baby, Sorry about that. The iterations of

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<v Speaker 1>the line later popped up in everything from The Simpsons

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<v Speaker 1>to Buffy the Vampire Slayer to Tropic Thunder, encasing it

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<v Speaker 1>in popular culture with very little reference to the original story.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's episode is based on the article our Dingo's Dangerous

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<v Speaker 1>and did One Really Eat a Baby? On HowStuffWorks dot com,

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<v Speaker 1>written by Megs Barwick. The brain Stuff is production by

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<v Speaker 1>Heart Radio in partnership with how Stuffworks dot Com, and

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<v Speaker 1>it's produced by Tyler klang A. Four more podcasts from

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<v Speaker 1>my heart Radio visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or

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