The Arrernte people indigenous to central Australia call Mount Gillen Alhekulyele, after the spirit of a wild dog that sniffed around the desert here near Alice Springs, looking for a mate. “Our ancestors tell the story that dog protected this area,” says Doug Taylor, an Arrernte aboriginal guide leading a tour at the Alice Springs Desert Park, near the base of Mount Gillen (indeed shaped like the snout of a basset hound). “You protect it as well.” Taylor’s smile reveals his evenly gapped Chiclet teeth. The afternoon sun is beating heavily on his brown bush hat as he ushers our group and a trail of ear-buzzing flies through the sand country, woodland, and desert-river habitats within the park’s 123-acre exhibit area. “If you’re ever out in the wild and dying of thirst, look for the little budgies and zebra finches,” he says, pointing to a mob of small green-and-yellow parrots and carrot-beaked, striped finches flitting about an outdoor enclosure. “My dad always...