All the wild dogs in Namadgi National Park sampled in a new genetic study have been revealed as having 100 per cent dingo ancestry.
Research showed the animals, found in bushland spanning across 106,000 hectares south of the city, did not have any trace of domestic dog DNA.
Dr Kylie Cairns, research fellow at the University of New South Wales, led the study, which gene-tested hundreds of dingoes all over the country.
She said all the dogs surveyed in Namadgi were found to be part of the "south dingo population" also found in southern NSW and eastern Victoria.
"Past DNA studies suggested that dingoes in New South Wales, Victoria and the ACT were severely threatened by dingo x domestic dog hybridisation," Dr Cairns said.
"Future work hopes to better understand geneflow, genetic diversity and inbreeding in these southern dingo populations."
The dingo expert said the study showed previous DNA testing often overestimated the proportion of domestic ancestry in wild dingoes.
She said the new research had shown the need for researchers and governments to do "updated genetic surveys with advanced DNA testing", as the ACT government had done.
Environment Minister Rebecca Vassarotti said that as a result, the ACT government would look at policies to recognise dingoes as a distinct native animal protected under the Nature Conservation Act (2014).
"For many years it was assumed that wild dogs in Namadgi National Park were not native, and that they were therefore to be managed as a feral pest species," the minister said.
"Dingoes play a crucial role in Australian ecosystems as a top order predator. They prey and scavenge on native and invasive species and may also reduce populations of introduced predators such as foxes and feral cats."
Ms Vassarotti also noted the dingo had a special place within the Ngunnawal community, and that it was symbol of resilience and protection.
She said the ACT government would recognise dingoes' cultural connections to the area, ecological values, and mitigate strategies to limit attacks on rural properties "that result in stock losses and emotional stress for landholders".
