What they said ... `We would not be thinking of a complete cull because dingoes are part of the fauna of Fraser Island but we need to take into account human safety' Queensland Environment Minister, Mr Brian Littleproud
`Culling is a knee-jerk reaction that will not solve these problems' Janet Devlin, in a letter published in the Age, April 9, 1998.
On Saturday April 4th, 1998, a dingo attacked a 13-month-old child on Fraser Island off the southern coast of Queensland. The child was seized by the shoulder, shaken and then dragged a meter or so from her parents' campsite. Her father yelled and the dingo, reported to be old with a deformed foot, dropped the child and ran off.
This is the third instance of a dingo attacking people on Fraser Island within the last 12 months.
Five dingoes, including the one apparently involved in this incident, have been shot after these attacks.
The Queensland Environment Minister, Mr Brian Littleproud, has called for an immediate inquiry into the dingo situation on Fraser Island and for a review of the dingo management strategy. One possibility being considered is that some of the dingoes on the island be culled.
Some park rangers have suggested that culling is a probable option. There has, however, been some opposition to any culling from the Fraser Island Defenders' Organisation and others interested in the welfare of the dingoes.
Background
Fraser Island , the world's largest sand island, is about 200km north of Brisbane, off Hervey Bay. It is 160km long and between 7km and 22km wide.
The island, covered by forest and spectacular sand hills, has become a major tourist attraction.
It has a dingo population variously estimated at between 120 and 200.
The dingo colony is seen as significant both as a tourist attraction and because it is one of the purest dingo breeding populations in Australia, its members not having interbred with domestic or feral dogs, unlike most mainland populations.
The history of white Australian interaction with dingoes has seen them classed as vermin for most of the period since white settlement. They have been particularly unpopular because of the threat they have been believed to pose to livestock, especially lambs.
Generally, however, dingoes have not been regarded as posing a significant threat to people.
(It was in part for this reason that Lindy and Michael Chamberlain were disbelieved when, in 1980, they claimed their baby daughter was taken by a dingo from their Ayers Rock campsite. Mrs Chamberlain was found guilty of the child's murder and her husband of being an accessory after the fact. Their convictions were later quashed, but only after Mrs Chamberlain had been imprisoned for three years.
It seems probable that part of the reason for the interest in the most recent Fraser Island dingo attack is because it echoes the Chamberlain case which attracted world-wide attention.)
Concern about Fraser Island's dingo population has grown as there has been a number of recent attacks.
In March, 1997, a five-year-old boy required hospital treatment after he was attacked by three dingoes while playing hide-and-seek with his younger sister at an outdoor dining area at a resort on the island. While only a week before the attack on the 13-month-old girl, two British tourists were attacked while washing their cooking utensils at a surf beach.
There are a number of Internet sources relevant to this issue. Most appear to argue for the preservation of the dingo.
In 1995, the CSIRO produced a press release indicating that the Australian dingo was in danger of becoming extinct, primarily as a result of interbreeding with domestic and feral dogs. The release refers to the work of Dr Laurie Corbett, the man who reviewed Fraser Island's dingo management strategies for the Queensland Government.
The release is titled, `No more yellow dog dingo?'
The School of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics at the University of New South Wales is conducting a study to discover the genotype or genetic composition of true dingoes. The aim of the project is to help ensure that dingo breeding programs are preserving pure dingo populations.
The Internet account of the program is titled Genetic variation in the Australian Dingo.
The May, 1997, edition of the outdoors magazine out There Hyperactive included an article by Caroline Wheal titled Reviled to revered. It gives an interesting account of the African wild dog's change in status now that it is an endangered species with a total population of about 5000.
Before becoming endangered, the African wild dog was regarded as vermin and people were paid for each tail that was brought in. Comparisons are made with the similar treatment received by Australian dingoes and North American coyotes.
Animal Liberation (South Australia) gives a detailed account of a range of humane methods that can be used to control species that are regarded as pests. The article is titled, Alternatives to Killing. It has a section dealing specifically with dingo control.
Finally there are sites set up by dingo preservation organisations which give information on dingoes, their status in Australia and attempts to preserve them.
The Australian Native Dog Conservation Society Limited has a home page giving detailed information on dingoes and the Society's dingo sanctuary.
The site also clicks through to their online publication, Merigal. One Merigal item is titled, `Fraser Frenzy/Post Mortem of a Media Attack". It suggests public education as the best means of dealing with the problem and is critical of the media treatment of the issue.
The Dingo Farm at Castlemaine, Victoria, also has a home page. This site clicks through to an All about Dingoes page which in turn clicks through to information on the regulations controlling dingo ownership in the different states.
Arguments in favour of culling the dingoes on Fraser Island
There are three main arguments offered in favour of culling the dingoes on Fraser Island.
The first of these is that the dingoes represent a danger to human beings.
It is claimed that the dingo, as top predator in the Australian food chain, poses a threat to any animal which might be prey. Human beings, it is suggested, especially infants, can be at risk from dingoes.
This position was put by Michael Chamberlain, whose baby, Azaria, was allegedly taken by a dingo at Ayers Rock in 1980. Mr Chamberlain has claimed, `The dingo is the number one predator in Australia and fundamentally it can't tell the difference between humans and animals as prey.'
Animal authorities have argued that dingoes are capable of killing wallabies weighing up to 20 kilograms and then dragging or carrying the carcass some distance. It has been suggested that such behaviour means that a dingo would be able to kill and drag or carry off a human baby.
The recent attempt by a dingo to seize and carry off a 13-month-old child has been seen as proof of the danger dingoes can pose to human children.
It has also been noted that other recent behaviour of dingoes on Fraser Island, where two adult British tourists were attacked while washing cooking utensils in the sea, indicates that dingoes, though unlikely to be able to kill an adult are capable of making a sustained attack. One of the women involved in this incident was bitten 14 times.
The second argument put in favour of culling the dingoes on Fraser Island is that the circumstances currently existing on the island make culling necessary. It is claimed, for example, that more than 350,000 tourists visited Fraser Island last year. On past figures it has been estimated that some 4,000 four-wheel drive vehicles will journey over Fraser Island this Easter alone. National Park and Wildlife Service sources have noted that most visitors to the Island camp in one of ten designated camping sites.
Those who are concerned about the dingo situation claim that these camp sites have become preferred feeding areas for dingoes. Campers apparently regularly feed the dingoes while the refuse that campers generate is also a significant food source for the animals. It has been claimed that rubbish and fish offal are becoming increasingly important in the dingoes' diet.
Park ranger, Bart Klekar has claimed, `The dingoes hang around the camping grounds only because of the availability of food. Even licking a barbecue plate is a bit of a meal for them.'
It has further been claimed that one of the consequences of dingoes' regular presence at camping sites is that they are losing their timidity around human beings. Lana Langdale, Australian mammals curator at Taronga Zoo, has claimed that, `People have become so integrated with them [the dingoes] that they are regarded as part of the animals' group.'
The two British tourists recently attacked claimed to have been shocked by the dingo's ferocity and its refusal to be intimidated by their attempts to protect themselves.
Thus, it is claimed, the dingoes apparently inevitable and probably increasing contact with human beings means that human safety is being put at unacceptable risk.
Finally, it has been argued that there appear to be no acceptable solutions to the problem that do not involve culling.
It has been claimed that regular education campaigns to stop tourists feeding dingoes have not had a significant effect.
Visitors are apparently told in brochures accompanying their camping permits that dingoes should not be fed as it makes them lose their natural fear of people. Signs warning of the dangers of feeding have been placed at all campsites and campers are also told that all food should be secured and all rubbish disposed of properly.
Rangers note that, despite this, infringement notices are regularly handed out as campers do not all follow these directions.
The rangers also claim that the habit of scrounging at campsites is now probably well established in most of the island's dingo population.
Relocating the dingoes to other natural habitats is apparently prohibited by anti-vermin laws and Australian zoos have, it is claimed, plenty of dingoes and so would not take Fraser Island animals. It has also been claimed that erecting security fences around campsites would be expensive and would not prevent attacks occurring elsewhere.
Queensland Environment Minister, Mr Brian Littleproud, has said, `We would not be thinking of a complete cull because dingoes are part of the fauna of Fraser Island but we need to take into account human safety.'
Arguments against culling the dingoes on Fraser Island
One of the primary arguments offered against culling the dingoes on Fraser Island is that they are a special population that should be preserved.
According to this line of argument the 120 to 200 dingoes that live on Fraser Island warrant particular protection because they are one of very few dingo populations in Australia that has not interbred with domestic or feral dogs. Wild life experts have claimed that Fraser island has the purest strain of dingoes in eastern Australia.
Wild life experts have also claimed that in such a small population the five dingoes recently shot following attacks on tourists is too many.
According to this line of argument, populations as small as the dingo population on Fraser Island are in a precarious position and very small further reductions in numbers could disturb breeding patterns and threaten the survival of the group. Those who hold this view maintain that even a partial cull could result in the effective extermination of all dingoes on the island.
It has also been claimed that suggestions that the dingoes should be culled may be an over-reaction. According to this line of argument, dingoes do not pose a significant danger to human beings. Lana Langdale, Australian mammals curator at Taronga Zoo, has claimed that dingoes are not a major threat to human safety and that most can be easily frightened off.
It has been noted, for example, that the dingo which recently tried to seize a child on the island was successfully frightened off by the girl's father. None of the recent attacks have resulted in any more than the people concerned being bitten. It has further been noted that dingoes do not seem to represent the threat to human life posed, for example, by crocodiles, which remain protected, or by North American black and grizzly bears.
It has also been claimed that there are other solutions to the problem than culling.
Lana Langdale has claimed, `Maybe a lot more manhours and money needs to be spent on management but it would be a complete tragedy if destroying the animals was seen as the answer.'
According to this line of argument improved education campaigns, possibly including increased fines, may help to prevent campers from deliberately feeding dingoes or from mismanaging their campsites so that there is food left where the animals can access it. These sorts of campaign have been effective in North America as a means of reducing the hazard posed by bears.
It has also been suggested that an increased number of park rangers checking campsites might also help to ensure that regulations are followed.
It has been claimed that visitors to the island must be required to recognise their role in the responsible management of its wildlife.
Janet Devlin, in a letter published in The Age on April 9, 1998, has claimed, `If the average camper, as well as the conservation authorities, were to develop a more responsible and educated attitude towards our native animals, then attacks like this need not occur.'
It has been suggested that funding a management strategy should be possible as the Queensland Government has stated that the state's national parks return some $1.2 billion in tourism revenue annually.
Further, it has been suggested that a dingo feeding program should be introduced to reduce the immediate danger that dingoes pose to tourists and be part of any long-term management scheme.
Mr Bruce Jacobs, a dingo expert, who owns Dingo Farm at Chewton, near Castlemaine in Victoria, has suggested that dingoes are only coming into camps and becoming aggressive because of a shortage of natural prey.
Mr Jacobs has said that there are no longer any wallabies or brumbies on Fraser Island and very few bandicoots. `The dingoes are desperate for food,' Mr Jacobs has claimed.
Mr Jacobs has suggested placing food-dispensing hoppers over the island, away from campsites. These, he has said, could be filled with good quality dog food.
`Feeding them,' Mr Jacobs has said, `will make them relaxed. They will be so laid back they will not harass people for handouts.'
Mr Jacobs has proposed that the hopper feeding scheme could be funded through a small levy on visitors to the island.
It has been suggested that such a feeding scheme would have the three-fold advantage of preserving a unique dingo population, retaining a tourist attraction and helping to ensure the safety of visitors to the island.
Further implications
It remains to be seen how the Queensland Government will respond to the recommendations of the review it ordered on the Fraser Island dingoes and appropriate management strategies following this most recent attack.
Former CSIRO scientist Dr Laurie Corbett, who conducted the review, has suggested giving dingoes electric shocks to discourage them from approaching campsites. Dr Corbett has also proposed that baits laced with non-toxic substances offensive to dingoes could be left in the vicinity of campsites and further that devices emitting high-frequency sounds could be used to drive the dingoes off.
The Queensland Government has yet to respond to these suggestions but their probable cost and the apparent difficulty of implementing a strategy such as giving the animals electric shocks may be factors against implementing these recommendations.
Dingo supporters across Australia and the animals' defenders on Fraser Island appear concerned about the possible cruelty involved in electric shocks and laying baits (even if non-toxic).
It would also be necessary to consider the impact on other species of high-frequency sound and any baits left to ward off dingoes.
Mr Jacobs appears to have been disappointed that his feeding station suggestion was not taken up by Dr Corbett. However, even if feeding stations were established it seems probable some culling would still occur.
Supplementing the dingoes' food would see their numbers grow. Were this to happen, however, it might then be necessary to cull their population either because they were again coming into undesirable contact with tourists or because population pressure was causing aggressive behaviour within the dingo population itself.
It would also be necessary to consider what impact increased dingo numbers might have on the island's remaining bandicoot population.
Should the proposal to cull the dingoes go ahead there are likely to be protests from conservation and animal welfare groups.
The position of the dingoes on Fraser Island appears to fit the pattern of all those native animals whose habitats have been reduced and who have been forced into contact with people. Their survival becomes precarious.
As a side issue, it will be interesting to note whether the Chamberlains, now divorced, use the evidence of the recent dingo attacks on Fraser Island to pressure the Northern Territory Government to overturn the official `no finding' which was the result of a 1995 inquiry into the cause of their daughter's death.
Sources The Age
7/4/98 page 4 news item by Greg Roberts, `Dingoes on death row'
8/4/98 page 15 analysis by Greg Roberts and Geoff Strong, `Now it's the dingo on trial'
9/4/98 page 16 letter from Carmen Bell, `The human factor in dingo attacks'
9/4/98 page 16 letter from Janet Devlin, `Culling not answer to dingo attacks'
The Australian
6/4/98 page 3 news item by Scott Emerson, `Inquiry called after dingo takes baby'
7/4/98 page 1 news item by Robert Lusetich and Leisa Scott, `Dingo attack renews Lindy's cry for justice'
The Herald Sun
6/4/98 page 4 news item, `Warning after baby grabbed by dingo'
7/4/98 page 5 news item, `Camper dingo alarm'
12/4/98 page 23 news item by Derek Ballantine, `Resort island's dingoes starve'
14/4/98 page 20 50/50 comment from George Ray
18/4/98 page 24 letter, `Don't shoot, dingoes have rights too'
20/4/98 page 20 letter, `Dingoes act on instinct'
26/4/98 page 3 news item by Derek Ballantine, `Electric shock plan for island dingoes'
The Internet There are a number of Internet sources relevant to this issue. Most appear to argue for the preservation of the dingo.
In 1995, the CSIRO produced a press release indicating that the Australian dingo was in danger of becoming extinct, primarily as a result of interbreeding with domestic and feral dogs. The release refers to the work of Dr Laurie Corbett, the man who reviewed Fraser Island's dingo management strategies for the Queensland Government.
The release is titled, `No more yellow dog dingo?'
It can be found at http://www.csiro.au/communication/mediarel/mr95068.htm
The School of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics at the University of New South Wales is conducting a study to discover the genotype or genetic composition of true dingoes. The aim of the project is to help ensure that dingo breeding programs are preserving pure dingo populations.
The Internet account of the program is titled Genetic variation in the Australian Dingo. It can be found at http://www.bioc.unsw.edu.au/anw/dingo.html
The May, 1997, edition of the outdoors magazine out There Hyperactive included an article by Caroline Wheal titled Reviled to revered. It gives an interesting account of the African wild dog's change in status now that it is an endangered species with a total population of about 5000.
Before becoming endangered, the African wild dog was regarded as vermin and people were paid for each tail that was brought in. Comparisons are made with the similar treatment received by Australian dingoes and North American coyotes.
The article can be found at http://www.outthere.co.za/may97/wildmay1.html
Animal Liberation (South Australia) gives a detailed account of a range of humane methods that can be used to control species that are regarded as pests. The article is titled, Alternatives to Killing. It has a section dealing specifically with dingo control.
The piece can be found at http://www.animalliberation.org.au/feralalt.html
Finally there are sites set up by dingo preservation organisations which give information on dingoes, their status in Australia and attempts to preserve them.
The Australian Native Dog Conservation Society Limited has a home page giving detailed information on dingoes and the Society's dingo sanctuary.
Their dingo information page can be found on the Internet at http://www.zip.com.au/~merigal/dingo.html
The site also clicks through to their online publication, Merigal. One Merigal item is titled, `Fraser Frenzy/Post Mortem of a Media Attack". It suggests public education as the best means of dealing with the problem and is critical of the media treatment of the issue.
The article can be found at http://www.zip.com.au/~merigal/core.html
The Dingo Farm at Castlemaine, Victoria, also has a home page. It can be found at http://www.wwwins.net.au/dingofarm/
This site clicks through to an All about Dingoes page which in turn clicks through to information on the regulations controlling dingo ownership in the different states.
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