The New Guinea singing dog is an extremely rare breed, best known for its unique barks and howls and its ability to make harmonic sounds.
Only around 200 captive singing dogs live in conservation centers or zoo. They are the descendants of a few wild dogs captured in the 1970s.
The animals have been severely inbred due to a lack of new genes. A comparison of DNA extracted from blood collected from three of the Papua New Guinea highland dogs suggested they have very similar genome sequences and are much more closely linked to each other than any other canine. The researchers ultimately hope that it will be possible to breed some of the highland wild dogs with the New Guinea singing dogs, perhaps through the usage of sperm samples, to generate a true New Guinea singing dogs population. Their harmonic vocalization is truly rare and unique and the researchers do not want to lose this natural ability to extinction.