Australian authorities have sparked a backlash by killing a group of dingoes linked to the death of a young Canadian woman on an island in the country’s east.
Six animals were put down after 19-year-old backpacker Piper James’ body was found on Monday last week at a beach on the World Heritage-listed island of K’gari, the Queensland government said.
The euthanization program has stirred debate about how to manage the local population of dingoes, a sandy-colored canine believed to have first arrived in Australia 4,000 to 5,000 years ago.
Photo: AP
An autopsy conducted on James’ body found evidence “consistent with drowning,” but also detected injuries corresponding to dingo bites.
“Premortem dingo bite marks are not likely to have caused immediate death,” a Queensland Coroners Court spokesperson said.
In response, the Queensland government said a pack of 10 dingoes involved would be euthanized after rangers had observed some “aggressive behavior.”
Six of the dingoes had already been euthanized, Queensland Acting Minister for the Environment and Tourism Andrew Powell told reporters on Sunday.
“Obviously, the operation will continue,” he said.
The traditional owners of K’gari, the Butchulla people, said the state’s failure to consult with them before euthanizing the dingoes was “unexpected and disappointing.”
“Once again, it feels as though economic priorities are being placed above the voices of the people and traditional owners, which is frustrating and difficult to accept,” the Butchulla Aboriginal Corp said in a statement to Australian media.
Wildlife experts said that killing the animals was the wrong response and might threaten the island’s dingo population, estimated at just 70 to 200 animals.
Given their small numbers, killing a pack of 10 animals would harm the population’s genetic diversity, University of Sydney quantitative conservation biology professor Mathew Crowther said.
“There’s no moral from the dingoes’ point of view. They’re just being wild animals, doing wild things,” Crowther said.
Dingoes tend to lose their fear of people as they interact with tourists, some of whom defy advice against feeding the animals.
“That’s the worst thing you can do to a wild animal,” Crowther said. “They just relate humans to food, and if you don’t give them food, well, you are food — that’s basically how it is.”
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