Dingoes healthy says Cr Brooks

COUNCILLOR Sue Brooks' frank assessment of the dingo management on Fraser Island may make her environmentally friendly followers a little uncomfortable.

Fraser Coast councillor Sue Brooks has gone against widely held opinion to say she does not think Fraser Island’s dingoes are starving. Picture: File

SHE is known for her green ways but councillor Sue Brooks' frank assessment of the dingo management on Fraser Island this week may make her environmentally friendly followers a little uncomfortable.

Ms Brooks told her colleagues at Wednesday's council meeting that following an “educational” weekend on Fraser Island with a team of researchers and rangers she was satisfied the government was looking after the dingoes in the best way possible.

“I can say there are healthy dingoes on Fraser Island,” Cr Brooks said.

“They are not all starving.”

As well as defending DERM's management strategy Cr Brooks also dismissed the notion that the new dingo collars were cruel.

She said the data they would provide would give the public an understanding of dingo habits and would answer crucial questions like “if they have enough to eat”.

“I do believe the collars aren't the most comfortable items but I think the information they will provide far outweighs the negatives,” she said.

“They will provide us with the best data we have ever had.”

Cr Brooks' weekend trip also highlighted several other concerns about the island.

She said feral cats had been seen on the island which was likely not widely known by the general public.

While she did not suggest the number of dingoes on the island had significantly decreased, she said she was concerned that if the population was thinning out, pests like feral cats could get out of control.

She also said better planning needed to take place when deciding what kind of infrastructure should be built around the island's lakes.

Originally published as Dingoes healthy says Cr Brooks