Dingo experts have said a decision to kill a 10-strong pack of the animals linked with the death of Canadian tourist Piper James on K\u2019gari could push the island\u2019s population towards extinction while doing little to protect humans.<\/p>\n
The Queensland government revealed on Sunday it had already killed six of the pack seen around the body of the 19-year-old in a move that has angered the island\u2019s traditional owners<\/a> who have said they were not consulted.<\/p>\n On Saturday, James\u2019s mother, Angela, told the ABC that killing the dingoes<\/a> \u201cis the last thing Piper would want\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cShe wouldn\u2019t want anything done to [the dingoes]; they were there first. She knew that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Sign up: AU Breaking News email<\/a><\/p>\n Todd James, Piper\u2019s father, said on Monday he didn\u2019t think Piper would have supported killing the animals \u201cbecause of a mistake that she made to put herself in that vulnerable position\u201d.<\/p>\n But he said \u201cfor the safety of the island \u2026 maybe that pack needed to be euthanised, but not because of Piper, but because of the way they\u2019ve been behaving\u201d.<\/p>\n The Queensland coroner is still to determine the cause of death, but a court spokesperson said<\/a> a preliminary assessment of the autopsy \u201cfound physical evidence consistent with drowning and injuries consistent with dingo bites\u201d.<\/p>\n There were \u201cpre-mortem dingo bite marks\u201d that were not likely to have caused her immediate death, as well as \u201cextensive\u201d postmortem bite marks.<\/p>\n James had gone out early and alone for a swim on 19 January. Her body was found by passersby surrounded by a dingo pack near the Maheno shipwreck.<\/p>\n The tragedy is the latest in a string of incidents involving dingoes and tourists on the world heritage-listed sand island and the first death since nine-year-old Clinton Gage was killed by two dingoes in 2001. That tragedy saw 32 dingoes culled.<\/p>\n Dr Kylie Cairns, an expert on dingo genetics at the University of New South Wales, said she was \u201cdisheartened, disappointed and frustrated\u201d by the government\u2019s decision to kill the pack after the latest death.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like the scientific evidence on this population [of dingoes] is not being used in the decision-making,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n map<\/a><\/p>\n K\u2019gari\u2019s isolated dingo population \u2013 likely present for thousands of years \u2013 has low genetic diversity and high levels of inbreeding, said Cairns.<\/p>\n With only between 70 and 200 dingoes living on the island, she said \u201cremoving 10 is quite significant. That can have a disproportionately large impact\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the moment [the dingoes] seem to be coping with this high level of inbreeding, but when you have a genetically constrained population it does not take much to push them into an extinction vortex.\u201d<\/p>\n She said a lack of genetic diversity meant K\u2019gari\u2019s dingoes were already susceptible to disease. Further reductions could risk pups being born with disfigurement and mothers suffering stillbirths.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re at the point where we could start to see some of these things,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Killing a pack could see an increase in movement of other dingo family groups that would claim the vacant territory.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are punishing animals for doing what wild animals do in a way that likely won\u2019t help people in the future,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n