Scientists want people who know the difference between a feral cat and a dingo

The only qualification you will need is to be able to tell the difference between a cat and the native dog.

Researchers from the University of New South Wales and testing a new method of trying to scare off the dingoes from unwanted areas using recorded dingo howls.

They have set up 12 automated speaker systems in the coastal Myall Lakes region 250 kilometres north of Sydney to test their ideas.

Along with the speakers are more than 60 remote camera traps.

It is the 50,000 images taken by these traps the scientists want help with in a citizen science plan they call Dingo Bingo.

"Sifting through 50,000 images is a tall order for any researcher, and so the team decided to share the load and the joy of participating in this work," the university said.

The Myall Lakes dingo project aims to develop and test non-lethal management techniques and add to our understanding of dingo behaviour and ecology along the way.

Researchers are trying to find a method to deter dingoes which does not involve shooting, baiting or even exclusion fences.

Researchers from UNSW Science along with Taronga Conservation Society Australia are testing whether the dingoes' own signals can be used to deter them and invasive predators from particular areas.

MORE READING: Sorting out dingoes from wild dogs.

They say dingoes use howls and scent marks to communicate ownership of space, and so by simulating their presence in an area the team hope to be able to deter them from specific areas.

"This project hopes to develop tools and strategies to limit the negative impacts that dingoes have in specific areas, while still allowing them to perform their ecological role as apex predator across the wider landscape," UNSW senior lecturer Dr Neil Jordan said.

Taronga's behavioural biologist Dr Ben Pitcher said there was evidence from a number of studies that animals retreat from the sound of their predators.

"As dingoes sometimes kill foxes and cats, we're also testing the idea that these smaller carnivores may avoid areas where they believe dingoes are present - where they hear a dingo howl for example".

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People are notified of the various animal groups they might observe in the photos (bandicoot, horse, reptiles etc.), instructed how to submit their identification, and, finally, which details they might add. Is it a dingo? Bingo!

To ensure they're accurately classified, each photo is displayed to 20 users, and only if there is a high degree of agreement are they classified, with the research team reviewing any debated classifications.

As Dr Jordan said: "You'll probably see a number of fox, cat and dingo images on the platform, and this doesn't necessarily mean that the experiment hasn't worked. To properly test for any effect of the howls we are also playing back control sounds, including ambient noise, and we'll compare these treatments using the data contributed through 'Dingo? Bingo!'".

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