A Victorian bounty scheme that pays farmers more than $100 for “wild dog” pelts has come under fire after new research revealed most dingoes in the state are purebred.

In new research published this week in Molecular Ecology, scientists from the University of NSW and Sydney University undertook comprehensive DNA testing on 307 wild animals from across Australia and found, contrary to popular belief, about 90 percent of them were pure dingoes, not hybrids.

“We went from thinking they were feral dogs to realising they were pure dingoes,” said study author Dr Kylie Cairns. “It’s really quite exciting that in the Victorian dingoes we found so many of the animals were pure.”

Previous DNA studies suggested pure dingoes were virtually extinct in Victoria and NSW. Dingoes are an endangered species but are unprotected on all private land in Victoria, where they can threaten livestock.

Of the 62 Victorian animals examined, nearly 90 per cent were “pure” dingoes – with 99.99 per cent dingo DNA – the research found. In NSW, over 60 per cent of the animals tested were pure, and only two animals had less than 70 per cent dingo DNA.

Victoria’s $6.7 million fox and wild dog bounty program, which began in 2011 and runs from February to October each year, pays landholders $120 for each “wild dog” body part. Government figures show about 1730 body parts have been redeemed in the past five years. However, fox scalps, which attract a $10 reward, are collected in far greater numbers.

Eligible applicants must submit an entire wild dog body part, which consists of a single piece of skin and fur running from the snout, incorporating the ears, along the animal’s back and including the tail.

Deakin University ecologist Professor Euan Ritchie said the new research suggests that most of the animals called wild dogs are actually dingoes.