Good Afternoon Nicole,
Thank you for your e-mail. At this stage, we have no idea why the dingoes are getting the blame for Piper's death. As a tour guide and camping very close to where she was found, she would possibly have been aware of the family pack that live near the Maheno wreck. It is bewildering to us all as to why she went for a swim in the dark at 5am, the wind velocity was very high so the water swell and rips would have been awkward to swim in. We have had some attacks from sharks of late. We are all waiting on the Autopsy report as to whether she drowned, was killed by dingoes or from a shark attack. Therefore we are not promoting any further insinuations that dingoes were involved in anyway until further notice from Queensland Parks and Wildlife Services.
If you would like to go to our web site www.savefraserislanddingoes.com you will find 18 years of advocating for education, dingo management, scientific approaches as in DNA study to determine their viability, health etc. We have had workshops, and hundreds of officials weigh in on the management of the dingoes from around Australia and world best practices. The problem came about due to the World Heritage Listing. Dingoes and residents on the Island lived peacefully, until their food sources such as brumbies (wild horses) and scraps being thrown into the bushes over decades were removed. We saw a terrible number of dingoes starve to death. In 2001 a boy lost his life, we were told by a Detective that two dingoes gave chase as the boy ran, by the time people reached him the dingoes had bitten his femoral artery and he bled to death. We were also told that no food was found in the dingoe's stomach, they were hungry.
Over the years, the dingoes have once again learned to catch fish and hunt but they also became wild. No longer did dingoes sleep in people's back yards etc. With the rise in tourism, the impact on the Environment has been enormous. Tent ripping is not new, people leave food and nice smelling soaps, lotions, cooking oils inside and of course the dingo with its powerful nose would be attracted to what is inside the tent. Also dingoes like people's shoes, clothing, they open eskies and so on, they are opportunistic and we will never remove that, people just have to learn how to behave in a Wilderness area. It is a huge shame that Piper didn't take someone with her when she went swimming, and to swim in waters that have stingers and sharks and also when it is dark is a complete mystery.
Thank you again, I have sent your e-mail to our Publicity Officer.
Kindest Regards,
Karin Kilpatrick
SFID Inc Secretary
Hervey Bay
Queensland,
0741241979