If you’ve been hit by puppy love, this long weekend is cause for celebration.
The seven dingo pups at Featherdale Wildlife Park will be available for cuddles on Saturday, Sunday and Monday only.
Life sciences director Chad Staples said it was a rare opportunity for the public to get up close and personal with the Australian dogs.
“There’s been such a great interest with the puppies that we wanted to give everyone a chance to meet them,” he said.
“They’re very fluffy. It’s a beautiful thick coat, being a winter pup.”
Mr Staples said the five-week-old pups were similar in development to a nine-week-old domestic dog.
“Super playful, really active, already eating meat, and very curious about their environment,” he said.
“Pups are like all babies. It’s either full steam ahead; playing, roughhousing, eating and carrying on with each other, or they’re dead asleep. It’s one or the other.”
The park had its first dingo puppy weekend last year after the birth of Smudge and Bear’s first litter.
Mr Staples said it was “beautiful” to see the community so interested in dingoes.
“They are a very divisive animal in Australia,” he said.
“You kind of sit in two camps with them: are they natives, because they’ve been here so long, or are they our first introduced species? Are they a pest or are they part of the ecosystem? Should they be pets or are they wild?
“They’re very divisive questions with dingoes, which is why I think it’s a fantastic opportunity to talk to people and be proud of these amazing Australian dogs.”
The park has found permanent homes for each of the puppies. They will be leaving in a few months.
The dingo puppy encounters will be available from June 10-12 for $10 per person (not including park entry).