Australian authorities have sparked a backlash over the killing of a group of dingoes linked to the death of a young Canadian woman on an island in the country’s east.
The Queensland government said six feral dogs were put down after 19-year-old backpacker Piper James. The body was found on January 19 On a beach on the World Heritage-listed island of K’gari.
The euthanasia program has sparked debate over how to manage the local dingo population, a sandy-colored dog that first arrived in Australia 4,000 to 5,000 years ago.
An autopsy on James’ body found “evidence consistent with drowning,” but also identified injuries consistent with dingo bites. The police told him they found the body 90 minutes after going for a morning swim.
“It is likely that the marks of death before the dingo bite caused immediate death,” a Queensland Coroner’s Court spokesman said.
The coroner’s inquest into the cause of death was expected to take several weeks.
In response, the Queensland government said the pack of 10 dingoes involved would be euthanized after rangers observed some “aggressive behaviour”.
Six dingoes had already been euthanized, state environment minister Andrew Powell told reporters on Sunday.
“Obviously, the operation will continue,” he said.
K’gari’s traditional owners, the Butchulla people, said the state’s failure to consult with them — or wongari in their language — before euthanizing the dingoes was “unexpected and disappointing.”
“Once again, it feels like economic priorities are being put above the voices of people and traditional owners, which is disappointing and hard to accept,” the Butchulla Aboriginal Corporation said in a statement to Australian media this week.
“They’re just wild animals”
They said killing the animals was the wrong answer and could threaten the island’s dingo population, estimated at just 70-200 animals.
Given their small numbers, killing a group of 10 animals would damage the population’s genetic diversity, said Mathew Crowther, professor of quantitative conservation biology at the University of Sydney.
“There is no morality from the dingoes’ point of view. They are being wild animals, doing wild things,” Crowther told AFP.
Dingoes lose their fear of people when interacting with tourists, some of whom resist the advice of feeding the animals.
“That’s the worst thing you can do to a wild animal,” Crowther said.
“Humans relate to food, and if you don’t feed them, well, you’re food, that’s basically it.”
Dingoes are wild and predatory animals and should be treated with respect, said Bill Bateman, associate professor in Curtin University’s School of Molecular and Life Sciences.
Dogs are more likely to attack children or people who are alone, and can be triggered when people turn their backs or run, he said.
“They are important animals, so we have to change the way we treat them, otherwise we will continue to react to these attacks and continue to reduce the dingo population,” Bateman told AFP.
Wildlife managers, rangers, indigenous people and tourism operators must work together so that humans and dingoes can coexist on the island, he said.
Todd James Piper’s father has taken to social media to describe how his family’s hearts were “broken” by his death.
The news of the dingo euthanasia was “heartbreaking”, he told Australian media, although he acknowledged it may be necessary for safety because of the pack’s behaviour.
Todd James previously said a “ceremony” for his daughter would be held in Australia, and the family planned to attend, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
Fairfax Media via Getty Images via Getty Images 
Main premises George Seymour told 9News The last fatal dingo attack on the island was 25 years ago and that there has been an “increase in dingo attack activity” in recent years.
“A lot of what (rangers) do is try to separate the dingoes from the humans, but we keep having this situation with the dingoes, and it’s kind of inevitable that there’s going to be a fatality, given how many bites and attacks have been going on over the years,” Seymour told 9News.
Ministry of Environment and Tourism of the Government gave the alert last month, saying “dingo activity has increased in several parts of the eastern beach” in K’gari.
Three years ago, a bunch of dingoes He mauled a 23-year-old runner one attack police said was nearly fatal. The dogs dragged the woman into the surf before a tourist came to the rescue, mauling the dingoes. Police said the man saved his life.
In 2023, there were two Australian women A fine of about $1,500 for taking selfies and videos posing with dingoes on the island.