What was the first non-native animal introduced to Australia?

Answer 1

The dingo is not native to Australia and its origin is still the subject of debate although it is thought to have decended from the Indian Wolf. The earliest dingo remains have been dated to about 3,500 years ago. Dingo remains have never been found in Tasmania, which puts the dingos introduction some time after the last ice age. It was often thought that the Aboriginal people brought the dingo with them when they immigrated to Australia, but this is now clearly not the case. During the time frame allowed, it is not possible that a breeding pair island hopped their way to Australia, so they must have been brought here by wandering Asian fisherman. Beyond the dingo, the First Fleet arrived with 9 cattle and 7 horses along with a variety of other food animals. According to marine practices of the time, every ship would have had at least one cat to keep rodents under control. The dingo was arguably introduced to Australia by the Aborigines thousands of years ago. Beyond that, cattle, sheep, goats, poultry, horses, cats, dogs and probably rats would have landed with the First Fleet in 1788. Cats were also introduced by Asian traders long before European settlers reached the continent. There is evidence that northern Australian aborigines were familiar with cats hundreds of years ago.

Answer 2

Animals such as cattle, sheep, horses, buffalo, camels etc were brought to provide food leather and textiles for clothing. Like dogs and cats were used as companions and work animals. Rabbits foxes, sparrows and gold fish were brought into make Australia seem a little more like Britain. Some like the infamous cane toad were brought in to cope with existing farm pests. Australia proved to be a good breeding ground for many of these animals in the wild.

Animals such as rabbits and foxes were introduced by members of the Acclimatisation Society, a group which believed in introducing exotic species into new locations around the world. In the cases of these two species, the animals were introduced purely for the "sport" of hunting.

Camels were originally brought to help some of the early explorers who used these hardy animals as pack animals across the desert areas. They were later used by the Afghans to carry goods across Australia, where horses and other transport could not go.