Butchulla Aboriginal Corporation speaks out on K’gari dingo attack

The director of the Butchulla Aboriginal Corporation says the group will support the euthanasia of a “high-risk” dingo on K’gari, but also wants the behaviour of tourists to come under scrutiny.

As the behaviour of a “high risk” dingo comes under scrutiny after an attack on K’gari this week Butchulla Aboriginal Corporation director Christine Royan says the group will support the state government in any decision it makes regarding the euthanasia of the animal.

But she said the group would not support the euthanasia of other dingoes that did not have a similar history, while adding that the behaviour of tourists on the island should also come under scrutiny.

On Monday Brisbane woman Sarah Peet was attacked by three dingoes as she ran on a beach on the famous island.

K'gari (Fraser Island) dingo attack victim Sarah Peet is recovering in Hervey Bay Hospital after being bitten nearly 50 times

Ms Peet suffered dozens of significant bites and was rescued by two men who punched the animals to get them away from her.

Paramedic Matthew Steer said the 23-year-old woman had been “corralled and harassed” by a pack of dingoes on Monday about 9.10am.

The woman was flown to Hervey Bay Hospital to receive treatment after the attack.

A K’gari dingo.

It was understood that on Tuesday, rangers stepped up patrols in the region of the attack, providing safety briefings and information to about 100 people in the area.

The high-risk dingo involved was fitted with a GPS collar in April after a spate of incidents.

Ms Royan said the organisation would support the decision if the state government’s Department of Environment and Science decided euthanasia was the only option based on the dingo’s history, because visitor safety had to come first.

Butchulla Aboriginal Corporation director Christine Royan: ‘We’re not happy with what is happening’.

But she was quick to point out that the organisation was unhappy with the depiction of wongari (Butchulla for dingo) in the wake of the attack.

“We’re not happy with what is happening – painting the poor old wongari in a bad light even though the visitors are actually doing the wrong thing,” Ms Royan said.

The organisation was focused on formulating a working group that would take a holistic approach to issues involving dingoes on the island, she said.

Ms Royan said an ongoing problem was people feeding the dingoes, causing them to become habituated and view people as a food source.

Tourists also ignored the department’s dingo advice, which instructed them to stay near their children and not to run or jog, she said.

A dingo walking along 75 mile beach on K’gari on a sunny day.

“The wongari were there before anyone else,” she said.

With about 600,000 visitors to the island every year, the department needed to look at closing parts of the island during breeding season and when dingoes were welcoming new pups, which were particularly volatile times, Ms Royan said.

“From our point of view, there needs to be a collective approach,” she said.

The corporation was due to meet with officials from the state government in coming days to discuss the fate of the high-risk dingo.

But just because one dingo was determined to be too much of a risk didn’t mean others should be destroyed, she said, adding that the case would be decided on the management history of the individual dingo.

She urged people to use commonsense on the island and to watch their children.

“People have to stop running,” she said.

“Stop using wongari as the bad person, it is the people who aren’t listening.”