The Queensland government has confirmed it has killed six of the 10 dingoes believed to be linked to the death of Canadian tourist Piper James on K'gari (formerly Fraser Island). The decision has drawn sharp criticism from experts and traditional owners, who warn it could push the island's isolated dingo population towards extinction.
Piper James, 19, went for an early morning swim alone on 19 January. Her body was later found near the Maheno shipwreck, surrounded by a pack of dingoes. A preliminary autopsy found physical evidence consistent with drowning and injuries consistent with dingo bites, including pre-mortem bite marks not likely to have caused immediate death and extensive post-mortem bites.
Dr Kylie Cairns, a dingo genetics expert at the University of New South Wales, described the cull as 'disheartening, disappointing and frustrating'. She noted that K'gari's dingo population, which numbers between 70 and 200, already suffers from low genetic diversity and high inbreeding. Removing 10 animals, she said, 'can have a disproportionately large impact' and could push the population into an 'extinction vortex'.
Dr Bradley Smith from Central Queensland University called the cull a 'kneejerk reaction' and 'dumb management', arguing it 'gets cheap political points' but does not address the underlying problem of human behaviour. He pointed out that male dingoes are currently in a breeding phase with elevated testosterone, making them more aggressive, but this behaviour is cyclical and would subside in months.
Piper's mother, Angela, told the ABC that killing the dingoes 'is the last thing Piper would want', adding, 'She wouldn't want anything done to them; they were there first.' Her father, Todd, said he believed Piper would not have supported the cull 'because of a mistake that she made to put herself in that vulnerable position', but acknowledged that the pack's behaviour might warrant euthanasia for island safety.
The Queensland government defended its decision, stating that rangers had observed further 'aggressive behaviour' from the pack since the tragedy. Environment Minister Andrew Powell said the cull was 'informed and in the public interest'. The incident is the first death from dingo attack on the island since 2001, when nine-year-old Clinton Gage was killed, leading to the culling of 32 dingoes.
