Local News

Premier Outlines Fate of Fraser Island Dingoes

By Joshua Smith - May 2nd, 2001

Queensland Premier Peter Beattie said the first dingo had been culled on Fraser Island, following an order today for an immediate cull in camp grounds and townships.

The Premier ordered the limited cull after consulting with Environment Minister, Dean Wells, following the death of a nine-year-old boy and an attack on his seven-year-old brother on the Island on Monday.

"We can't change the tragedy of Monday but we will do everything we can to ensure this doesn't happen again," Mr Beattie said.

"Throughout the time that a draft management plan has been out for consultation, Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service officers have been culling dingoes that were potential problems for humans, stepping up the education campaign and tackling the problem of people feeding dingoes.

"Up to 40 dingoes have been culled in the past ten years and since 1995, more than 50 people have been issued infringement notices for feeding dingoes."

Mr Beattie said he was advised the dingo culled today was part of the pack that has been sighted around the Waddy Point camp ground and that the animal was humanely culled around 1pm by an experienced Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service officer.

"This is the first of up to 20 dingoes that will be culled, including the Waddy Point pack of about five dogs," he said.

The Premier's swift move has been criticised by many animal rights activists as a headstrong political move driven by emotion, with a risk study resulting from the Clinton Gage mauling as yet incomplete. Furthermore, it has been suggested that the probable cause of the increased activity of the island's 200-strong dingo population around campsites is a result of a dwindling food supply for the animals.

Victorian representative of the Australian Dingo Conservation Association, Lyn Shelling-Watson, said the Queensland Government could resolve this concern by establishing feeding stations away from campsites, organising helicopter food drops and erecting electric fences around camping grounds. Ms Shelling-Watson suggested that these measures would help dingoes preserve their place in Australia's ecosystem and food chain.