Aboriginal rangers frustrated after visitors continue to not listen to dingo safety advice

After a string of dingo attacks on K'gari, local Butchulla rangers say tourists are "being ignorant" and not following safety messages on the island.

Australian jogger in hospital after dingo attack

Australian jogger in hospital after wongari attack Source: DPA / Axel Heimken/DPA

Visitors have again been advised to heed warnings after a woman was attacked by four dingoes (wongaris) while jogging along the beach on K'gari.

The Queensland ambulance service says the woman was chased into the ocean before suffering bite wounds.

This is the latest attack after a string of dingo incidents on K'gari.
Aboriginal rangers have communicated that visitors of the island need to listen to the warnings that are given.

Tessa Waia is the Ranger and Community Engagement Officer at Butchulla Aboriginal Corporation (BAC). BAC represent the Native Title interests of the Butchulla people, who are the Traditional Owners of K'gari.
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Tessa Waia, Butchulla Aboriginal Corporation
"[The warnings] are everywhere - before you even book to go over there," Ms Waia told NITV News.

"You've got flyers and leaflets, the visitor operators who drive tour busses, we've got signs right across the island, we've got brochures everywhere. We've also got all our rangers."

"They're being ignorant and don't want to follow what we're putting out there which are these safety messages. There's signs everywhere."

She expresses her frustration after seeing visitors not complying with the safety information given by rangers time and time again.
"We say you can't take food and drinks out near the water holes and you still see people cooking and having a barbeque," Ms Waia said.

"That particular incident [of the lady who got bit while jogging] is a prime example of [people not heeding the warnings]."

"It does come back to our visitors heeding to those messages that we do give out or when we are trying to educate them. We're not doing this because we want them to have a crappy time. We want them to go out there and enjoy the beauty of K'gari."

Ms Waia says that the local Aboriginal community there feels connected to the wongaris.

"[Euthanizing the wongari's] is the last resort, that we never want to get to. I'd rather be pushing for the closure of camp zones. People don't need to be up there."
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Ms Waia and a wongari
"We do have our wongari safety messages, which are keep your children safe, keep your children within arm's reach, don't walk alone - walk in groups, don't run or jog because you can get a negative reaction from the wongaris."

"I can't stress it enough to please hear what we say... because it's for everyone to be safe and for our wongaris to be safe."

Environment Minister Leanne Linard said in a statement that she will be meeting with rangers and Traditional Owners tomorrow to talk to them about the management of wongaris.
When asked about euthanizing the dingoes involved, Ms Linard said that there would need to be consultation with rangers and Traditional Owners first.

"That's a consideration that will be made with rangers and Traditional Owners. It is a significant step to euthanize a dingo."

"The population I'm advised on K'gari of dingoes is approximately 200. That's a sustainable population. They have sustainable food source on the island."
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Leanne Linard, Environment Minister
In her statement, Ms Linard said that while tourists may think that wongaris are cute, negative interactions can result.

"I know people love to see dingoes when they go to the island, there's no doubt in that they are also a tourist attraction, but there can be negative interactions if precautions aren't taken.

"They may look cute, they may look like dogs, but they are not - they're wild animals."

She said that from her own personal experience as a visitor to the island, there are many warnings around K'gari and engagement from Indigenous rangers.
"I think what you see on the island and as someone who has who has also camped there and been there, there are a lot of warnings on the island. There's a lot of education on the island."

"I personally experienced Indigenous rangers engaging at two different sites that I was camping on."

Ms Linard says the behaviour of the dingoes was not out of the ordinary, considering the animals are wild and native to the island.

"It has not been relayed to me that the behaviour was in any way abnormal for them."

"We know from warnings that are given to people in the community. If you are approached by a dingo they often say don't run, they can become quite excitable, particularly if they are adolescent or young dingoes."

Although, Ms Linard did say that it was concerning that the dingoes weren't frightened away.

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5 min read
Published 18 July 2023 4:16pm
Updated 19 July 2023 9:30am
By Bronte Charles, Tanisha Williams
Source: NITV


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