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A. Personal introduction

 

The fascination of New Guinea - the Last Unknown.

My journey to Australia and New Guinea half a centrury ago. Visit to Sir Edward Hallstrom and „his“ dogs at Taronga Park Zoo of Sydney.

Travelling twenty times (from 1959 to 2003) into the wilderness of New Guinea: to the Central Highlands and the Papuan Gulf District – discoveries of ancient strains of New Guinea village dogs.

This publications presents the first comprehensive survey of Papuan dogs.

B. Scientific introduction

Troughton's description of Canis hallstromi from the highlands of New Guinea – the so

called „New Guinea Singing Dog“.

The actual scientific status of Papuan dogs: wild or feral ?

C. About strains and breeds

A dynamic definition of dog breeds. Reference to Lawrence Alderson.

Pariah dogs. What are „primitive dogs“ ? References to Eberhard Trumler's research.

The NGSD breed is separated from traditionally kept Papuan dogs.

D. Early migrations to New Guinea and Australia

South-east Asian dogs: their origin and differenciation.

The zoo-geographical isolation of New Guinea and the Australian continent.

Migrations of humans, dogs and pigs from the Asian mainland – first to New Guinea and from there to Australia.

The evolution of the Dingo.

E. Adaptation and differentiation of dogs on New Guinea

The criteria for evolution of native breeds on the New Guinea island continent.

The role of ecological and cultural factors.

Early traces of dog husbandry (archaeological evidence).

The so far undefined strain of the coastal zone (e.g. in the Papuan Gulf, the Raja Ampat Archipelago) and the newly discovered strain of the foothills inland (the Mt. Bosavi region) and the Southern Highlands District.

Their relations to the Australian Dingo.

The Fraser Island Dingo link-population.

F. Our experiences with Individual Papuan dogs

"Sóbi" and "Nérumu" in the field and at home in Germany. Observations of their behaviour, various anecdotes.

G. Traditional dog husbandry in selected regions of New Guinea

The use of dogs in game hunting.

Eating of dog meat.

Dog teeth as ornaments. Customs related to the collecting of dog teeth. Barter trade.

The attachment and status of dogs in Papuan village society: integration and affection.

H. Mythology and folk-tales about dogs in selected Papuan tribes

Collected from early travel books and ethnographical literature.

I. Preservation of strains - but how?

The endangered status of Papuan dog strains

Their near extinction and measures for their preservation.

Footnotes (F...separate article)

Research papers (Bibliography...in the same separate article)

Land cultivation and pastoral traditions have ancient roots on Skyros.

The indigenous breed of cattle was still maintained in 1958. The photographs were taken in the coastal area adjoining Kalamítza Bay, east of Linarià.

The ponies were kept in one herd during the winter inland from Linarià (pictures taken in 1976).

The eastern part of Skyros, owned by the I.M. Megisti Lavra on Agion Oros, was leased for extensive goat browsing: The crippled oak "trees" (Quercus coccifera) cannot grow up to any hight, because again and again all young shoots and leaves are nibbled off (pictures taken in 1976). The subsequent erosion is progressing from higher altitudes downwards, moving the soil towards flat depressions or the sea respectively. So the carrying capacity of the land for pasture (mostly for browsing oak) is getting less year by year. A barren skeleton of rock with some marginal plant growth remains. And the annnual EU subsidies shoot up like rockets. We pay for this ecological mis-management - for another human distaster. ...weiterlesen "Skyros – pastoral traditions"

The island of Gioura was a royal possession and is now owned by the Greek State. It is the most efficiently protected area of the Marine Park Northern Sporades. One or two wardens stay there permanently, at least since the 1950s, several decades prior to the park's foundation. The wardens report to the Forestry Department on Skopelos.The reason for this strict protection is the belief that the endemic goat breed  on Gioura represents a unique wild species. ...weiterlesen "Gioura, Northern Sporades – ancient goat breed"

Gioura Island presents a rugged mountain wilderness from sea-level to 800 meters altitude. Human habitation always must have been confined to some plain stretches of land with clay soil. Steep lime-stone ridges surround these earlier cultivated areas like natural fortifications.

One has to consider changes in sea-level of up to 85 meters below recent marks.

Excavations starting in 1992 in the so called Kyklops Cave, have revealed a very early occupation, at least dating back ten millenia, to the Mesolithic era. ...weiterlesen "Gioura – civilization over 10.000 years"

 

On the Northern Sporades Archipelago, all the indigenous stock of cattle became  extinct in the early 1990s. This invaluable loss of genetic material is one of the tragic consequences of Greek ignorance and indifference. ...weiterlesen "Endemic cattle of the Northern Sporades archipelago"