DINGOES: Thousands sign petition calling for killing to stop

Thousands of people have joined the fight to stop the killing of dingoes on Fraser Island after two of the animals were destroyed last week.

FRUSTRATION: Anger is growing after two dingoes were destroyed on Fraser Island. A petiton calling for a stop to the killing of dingoes on the island has climbed by thousands of signatures in a matter of days.

THOUSANDS of people have joined the fight to stop the killing of dingoes on Fraser Island after two of the animals were destroyed last week.

Marilyn Nuske, founder of Fraser Island Dingo Conservation, started a petition on Change.org about a year ago after another dingo was euthanised.

In the days since two other dingoes met the same fate after a nine-year-old French boy and his mother were attacked on the island, about 2000 others have gone online to sign up, bringing the total to well over 10,000.

"There has been a groundswell of signatures," Ms Nuske said.

When the petition reaches 15,000 signatures, it will be presented to Leeanne Enoch, Queensland's Minister for the Environment.

"The community does not like dingoes being killed," Ms Nuske said.

"The public want to see this stopped."

She said people who signed were not only from the Fraser Coast but across the nation and the world.

After calling for more rangers Ms Nuske said the lines of communication needed to be open between rangers and the public to enable them to move people on if there was any chance of a negative encounter between dingoes and people.

She said the destruction of the two dingoes would destroy the structure of the pack and lead to further negative interactions as dingoes were more likely to look for scraps from tourists.

Ms Nuske said a sanctuary should be built for dingoes on the island.

She said presentations could be given explaining how to behave around dingoes, as well as the significance of the animal to the Butchulla community.

The Chronicle sought a response from Ms Enoch regarding the petition, but had not received one at the time of publishing.

The death of the dingoes has sparked concern from several dingo advocates.

Simon Stretton, owner of Durong Dingo Sanctuary, this week suggested the number of visitors to the island should be capped.

Cheryl Bryant from Save the Fraser Island Dingoes said the fate of the animals was sealed when the child and mother were injured, adding that killing the dingoes was a "stop-gap solution".