Dr Peter Fleming, who has been working on the subject since the late 70s from his base at Orange, NSW, told guests at an MLA industry breakfast in Brisbane on Friday that different regions of the country had different expectations when it came to managing wild dogs.

"Our number one priority is to protect livestock from wild dog attack, so in our livestock production areas we should be looking at the most effective control methods," he said.

"In other areas, like National Parks, the emphasis needs to be on managing dog numbers so that they don't come in contact with livestock."

Dr Fleming has sought to distance himself from an earlier report on queenslandcountrylife.com that indicated the 'war on wild dogs is dead'.

Dr Fleming said the tone of the report inflamed an already highly sensitive issue, underscored by several angry comments from readers critical of the researcher's reported position.

"I don't like that term (war) and it's not representative of where our research needs to be focused," he said.

"If we call it a war, it's a bit like the war on terror - nobody wins."

Dr Fleming said wild dog management was best served by balancing control and conservation.

"We have to do control to mitigate predation by dogs of livestock, but at the same time in some places they need to be conserved, which is why it's a finely tuned balancing act that needs more research and more dialogue between communities so that we get a national framework on the table."

Despite the wild dog menace causing millions of dollars damage in lost livestock production and heartbreak to countless sheep and beef producers across the country, Dr Fleming said in some cases wild dogs had a positive impact on biodiversity.

"Any dog that ranges free is a wild dog and for some people they have a positive impact on biodiversity, such as acting as a predator to other animals they need to control like kangaroos or wallabies," he said.

"For people involved in livestock production they are a pest and so for these regions we need to look at control.

"This is why we need a national adaptive framework that can balance what different communities want."

Dr Fleming, who is part of the Invasive Animals Co-operative Research Centre, said he was hoping a new investigation into wild dog populations in northern Australia would begin soon, to assess their impact on herd reproductive performance.