The Great Dingo debate.

[disorderly]

I spent my childhood in your part of the world and my family still live in NQ and have contacts in the "Cassowary Coast" area. The story above from the ABC did a lap of our family chat group and the general consesus was the poeple involved musn't be locals because if they were the croc would be dead and the ABC would have never heard about it.

Matt

Yep long time locals no they they have to take care of business themselves ..and keep there mouth shut...

Gents, after seeing the stress that years of dingo attacks and mauling of sheep has had on my father and other farmers, I see no sensible reason why legislation would or should be reversed to protect dingos on mainland Australia. The best management is a combination of electrics fences, trail cameras on likely tracks, well placed traps and coordinated 1080 baiting programs across multiple properties.

I see no reason why they shoul roam free on Fraser. Just my opinion.

Where is that mate..?

My uncle's farm in NW NSW has had to deal with similar problems over the years ..

Always though they were Wild dogs...(domestic/dingo mix)..they were never full blood dingo's like on Fraser..

[wags on the water]

If there's a shark attack, the animal is searched/hunted and put down. If there's a croc attack, a search ensues and the animal is put down.
FACT - If a domestic dog attacks anyone, the animal is put down.

So why is a dingo attack treated so very differently??

[Lovey80]

I thought they did put them down after an attack. Would be hard to put a lock on which dingo after the fact though.

[NAGG]

One of the difficulties when we are talking dingoes is the differentiation between "dingoes" & wild dogs ....... At a place like Fraser we have a pure bred population & that's why they should be treated differently (IMO) .

Wth Fraser - It should be a case like if you went & camped up at Lakefield National Park ....... "buyer beware"

Chris

[Lucky_Phill]

Thanks guys, I still can't get my head around the fact that the dingo is an introduced species and not native. Yes, we can legislate it into nativness-ship ? and why not ? FFS.

You think the Fraser dingoes are pure bred. ......... ask Costa ( barge owner ) for photos of dingoes swimming between Inskip Point and Fraser.

Domestic dogs live in the confines of a property under ownership, wild dogs don't. Wild dogs roam, usually in packs and are scavengers. One of the most prominent scavengers is the Dingo , a wild dog. .

From the source:- Dingoes are currently classed as unprotected native fauna and a declared pest, but the animals will be listed as non-fauna under widespread reform to the Act. ... Under current legislation, an animal is considered a native species if it is indigenous to Australia or arrived before 1400 AD. WTF ??????

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLMehMZWq80

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBY0NziL6M8&t=285s

LP

[Didley]

Cull the Fraser Island Dingo.

The Dingo is Australia's wild dog. It is an ancient breed of domestic dog that was introduced to Australia by Asian seafarers about 4,000 years ago. Its origins have been traced back to early breeds of domestic dogs in South East Asia (Jackson et al. 2017). Domestic dogs are descended from the Grey Wolf (Canis lupus). While recent DNA studies suggest that Dingoes may have been in Australia for longer (Oskarsson et al 2011), the earliest undisputed archaeological finding of the Dingo in Australia has been dated to 3,250 years ago (Balme et al. 2018).

Having been in Australia for around 4,000 years, Dingoes inhabited many parts of mainland Australia but never reached Tasmania. “ Questionable “ . After European colonisation and the growth of pastoral stations, there was a concerted effort to remove Dingoes from farming areas. As a result, Dingoes are mostly absent from many parts of New South Wales, Victoria, the south-eastern third of South Australia and from the southern-most tip of Western Australia.

Dingoes are opportunistic carnivores. Mammals form the main part of their diet especially rabbits, kangaroos, wallabies, wombats, native mice, possums and bandicoots. When native species are scarce they are known to hunt domestic animals and farm livestock. This makes them very unpopular with pastoralists. Failing this, the Dingo will eat reptiles and any food source it can find including insects and birds. Scavenging at night, the Dingo is a solitary hunter, but will form larger packs when hunting bigger game, like small children. The Dingo has been credited as being a factor in the extinction of native animal species, particularly on Queensland’s Fraser Island. There are about 200 Dingoes on Fraser Island as at 2021.

The Dingo Canis lupus dingo is protected in Queensland national parks as a native species, although it is an introduced species, similar to Cane Toads and Rabbits. The Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service has a legal responsibility to conserve these populations in national parks and protected areas, even though the dingo is a declared pest outside of these areas. Having a bet both ways stinks of political interference and pandering to certain lobby groups, to secure preference votes.

The Dingo is classed as native wildlife under this legislation and hence is protected on the national park estate. Elsewhere in Queensland dingoes are a declared (pest) species under the Land Protection (Pest and Stock Route Management) Act 2002. So, it’s a pest in Australia’s legislation, but not on Fraser Island, a World Heritage listed place and National Park.

Fraser Island provides a varied diet, including fish, crabs, reptiles, echidnas, bush-rats, swamp wallabies, goannas and bandicoots. Dingoes also eat insects and small berries, and roam along the beaches looking for marine life or the occasional seabird. Dingoes will enter campsites scavenging for food and have honed their skills at opening eskies, containers and other food storage vessels, hence legislation was introduced for humans to secure or “ dingo proof “ food storage containers. Dingoes will also hunt down fishermen on the beaches catching fish, in the hope for an easy meal, by way of discarded and unguarded fish or bait.

Domestic dogs are not permitted on Fraser Island. The Dingo is a domestic dog, Fact.

Managing the Dingoes on Fraser Island is a multi-million dollar hit to the taxpayers of Queensland and Australia. Dingoes are a real threat to humans, in particular small children and the present management system is to place the emphasis of responsibility for safe guards on humans. A percentage of humans are incapable of understanding the responsibility placed on them and through that are perpetuating the “ Dingo “ problem. The solution to this financial and physical problem is to cull all Dingoes on Fraser Island.

The Dingo is an introduced pest, simple. Cull. After all, the QPWS removed the Brumbies, an introduced species.

Just thought I would post up my feelings at the moment. I have been to Fraser Island that many times, I'm almost a local, even having worked there for a while. The amount of signage, brochures, fences, warnings, grids, gates and more that are put in place for what is an " Introduced species and declared pest " and a domestic animal, is way too much. If we get rid of the pest, we save millions of dollars, save injury and potentially lives and definitely give the native wildlife a chance to re-populate.

FYI, I saw 6 Dingoes this week on Fraser Island, all north of Happy Valley. One was being fed by camping tourists, another was hovering near a fisho at waters edge, the rest walking / stalking.

LP

Phil, can I just ask who wrote the article you pasted in the fist post, and who made ths up? "Fact........ Wild Animals ( as the Dingo is described ) in Australia are actually Domestic Animals that live in the wild, ie:- Feral Animals.

[WalFish]

Disorderly, definite dingos mate as confirmed by National Parks. Far more cunning than x-bred or wild dogs. In SE QLD around Stanthorpe

[wags on the water]

I thought they did put them down after an attack. Would be hard to put a lock on which dingo after the fact though.

Well let's start with the problem animals - the ones that frequent the campsites, houses then go from there.

[Didley]

Do you think while we're at it we could use a crop duster to spray the whole country and get rid of all the insects, particularly the mosquitos and sand flies, they carry disease and annoy the hell out of me. an can we kill all the magpies too ,they can cause great damage. And could we................

[TheRealPoMo]

Actually yes, its time for a magpie cull. As with the dingos, our presence, table scraps and derailed modern attitude to conservation has resulted in a large number of hyper-aggresive birds out there.
...and as with the dingos, we created the imbalance, so we should correct it. Again, as previously suggested, start with the problem individuals, removing such behaviour from the gene pool.

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

[disorderly]

Talking about learned behavior...

These annoying critters are on a mission to take over the world....

https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/...urbs/100306786

I had all my fruit stripped this year by them and some of it just 10m from from home...

All of it green and with no preference as to what fruit and none of it actually eaten...just bitten off and dropped on the ground..

I gave them the benefit of the doubt this time but I may be viewing them through before too long if they dont get their act together and p!ss off..

[rayken1938]

ion from dingo-cam on Queensland's Fraser Island.


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abc.net.au/news/collar-camera-captures-day-in-the-life-of-fraser-sland-dingo/100372088




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It's never-before-seen footage in the perspective of a dingo, as the wild animal hunts prey and an insight into how it traverses hundreds of kilometres of the sandy landscape of K'gari (Fraser Island).
Key points:

• Department of Environment and Science releases world-first footage of wongari (dingoes) on K'gari (Fraser Island)
• GPS collars are also used on aggressive dingoes after attacks at the Orchid Beach township earlier this year
• A report from an expert panel review into dingo management is released, with 43 recommendations accepted by the state government

A collar fitted with a camera and GPS tracker was put on the adult male dingo, known as wongari, in May as part of a world-first monitoring program by Queensland's Department of Environment and Science.
"It gives us a first-hand view of a day in the life of a Fraser Island dingo," Queensland Parks and Wildlife ranger-in-charge Linda Behrendorff said.

"This is superb footage and shows us where the wongari goes, how and where he finds food and water and gives us an intimate view of the time he spends with his mate.

"For almost a month, the camera collar captured footage of the wongari and tracked him travelling hundreds of kilometres throughout the northern part of the island."
At one point the animal stopped at the Orchid Beach township where he was being photographed by residents and visitors, which rangers hoped would remind people to keep their distance from the animals.
"It's very good for education and for people seeing that dingo's perspective because we're trying to keep these animals wild," Ms Behrendorff said.


K'gari's QPWS ranger-in-charge, Linda Behrendorff, says the dingo collar footage provides insight into the animals' lives on the island.(ABC Wide Bay: Nicole Hegarty
)Collars to monitor aggressive dingoes

Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) officers fitted two tracking collars to two wongari after several incidents at the Orchid Beach township in recent months, including a four-year-old boy who was bitten on the leg in May.
"Tracking collars are one of a number of management techniques we use to monitor wongari after increased risks of negative interactions or incidents with residents or visitors to the island," Ms Behrendorff said.

"It's obvious from the footage that the tracking collar doesn't cause issues for the wongari, in terms of feeding, moving about the island and interacting with his mate.

"The collar features an inbuilt drop-off mechanism that releases after a set period of time, which allows rangers to track it and retrieve it."


One of these two dingoes on the beach at K'gari (Fraser Island) off the south-east Queensland coastline is wearing a GPS tracking collar.(ABC News: Kerrin Binnie
)Review into wongari management

Butchulla Aboriginal Corporation chairperson Jade Gould said a report on dingo management on K'gari found visitors to the island were more responsive to information from traditional owners.
"That was an interesting finding, that people will listen to the advice provided by the traditional owners," Ms Gould said.

"A lot of people respond better, or will take on board information provided by the Butchulla people, as opposed to other authorities on the island [such as] the government [or] other, not-for-profit organisations."

The review was ordered by the Queensland government after three serious dingo attacks on the island in 2019, with the report released this month.




YOUTUBEYoutube dingo
While the expert panel behind the report agreed the current strategy for keeping people and dingoes safe had made positive steps, it did identify some areas for greater focus.
Ms Gould said she was pleased all 43 recommendations in relation to risk management, communication and education had been adopted by the government.
"When over half a million people visit the island every year, the pressures on wongari and the pressures on people to do the right thing are greater and, so, there's more room for error," Ms Gould said.
"That's something that Butchulla people have to manage these days is the way that we continue our relationship with the wongari."

[woodchopper]

Better a late reply than none…. i went to Fraser for the first time last month and was appalled at the lack of effective dingo management. I saw one dingo sitting 5m away from a nervous mum holding a baby. the dingo was just leering at them. They would not stay out of our camp. we were told to use sticks against them, o e was hobbling around with a broken leg. what a cluster fark. They are habituated and i would support culling any animal that enters a camp or harasses any person. tagging them does jack all. Let the ones who stay away live but don’t let this generation of dogs train their pups to be scabs.

[Lovey80]

We are told about the great many unique animals that have gone extinct since white mans settlement and introduction of foreign pests to a landscape that evolved with very few land predators. Dingo's are just another introduced species by man around 4000 years ago. Have a drive around places like Bangladesh and you'll see the wild street dogs look almost identical. I am glad they are declared a pest species.

[docaster]

Pure bred dingoes are generally very timid (hence the nickname dingo). The trouble with Fraser Island is the lack of food for them imo. Like others have said the trouble makers are not taken out, they would soon learn to stay away from humans but tourists are not allowed guns obviously. Perhaps a shut down of tourists for a week or so and allow pro shooters to camp and target said trouble makers, not seek out but take out the ones that come to interact. As for the rest of Australia the wild dogs have bred with the natives, and are more brazen. In 25 years on my place I have had only one attack. My first cows on the place. A weaner had his rump bitten. He survived with antibiotics etc. I had to ''escort'' him back to the house in the middle of the night with protection lol. But since then I haven't lost any, because I've always kept some stock with horns I reckon. Sure they will clean up any dead stock, usually only takes a day or so before they get the smell. Everything will be eaten except the grass in the stomach. But they are brazen for sure, I've had a few chooks taken in broad daylight, but will leave the area for a while when one ruffles their fur. I've never baited them, leave that for the neighbours. I prefer the dingoes sometimes as the wallabies eat us out. When there's lots of wallabies there is no dingoes, when the wallabies drop in numbers I know the dingoes are back. Howling is a common sound at night. They can be right near the house sometimes. I've never had a bitch taken, always had female dogs as dingoes will kill a dog even tied up. Males are a threat but they'll try to steal the bitch's. Once shooters take a couple and the tourists are back in a sound recording of a shot will make them take off, because of the experience.