{"id":316025,"date":"2026-03-06T13:11:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T13:11:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/316025\/"},"modified":"2026-03-06T13:11:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T13:11:10","slug":"cause-of-death-revealed-after-piper-james-found-surrounded-by-dingoes-on-kgari","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/316025\/","title":{"rendered":"Cause of death revealed after Piper James found surrounded by dingoes on K\u2019gari"},"content":{"rendered":"

James\u2019 father Todd told The Courier-Mail he had spoken to his daughter the day before her death<\/a>, and that she was \u201crespectful\u201d of dingoes and the danger they pose.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe loved being where she was, but maybe she let her guard down. Bad things can happen,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"PiperPiper James\u2019 parents have asked the Queensland coroner to review policies governing the sharing of information by rangers about the risk of dingo attacks. Photo \/ YouTube<\/p>\n

\u201cShe loves animals, we got all the pictures of the kangaroos, but she was respectful of the dingoes. Since she was 6 she always wanted to travel to Australia. I just always remember her and her girlfriend planning a trip.\u201d<\/p>\n

James\u2019 close friend Taylor Stricker, who had been travelling with her at the time, remembered her travel companion as a person who \u201cshowed up without question\u201d through life\u2019s moments.<\/p>\n

\u201cPiper had the gentlest soul wrapped in the toughest shell, and loving her felt inevitable,\u201d Stricker wrote on social media.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe opened my eyes to the beauty of this world and taught me how to lean into life instead of standing on the edges of it.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy friend, I will hold you with me in every sunset, every visit to the ocean, every fearless choice I make. You\u2019ll always be my one and only Piper.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fraser Coast councillor John Weiland, who is the local representative for K\u2019gari, a location he has been frequenting for the past 35 years, has witnessed dingo behaviour change \u201cquite dramatically\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey just don\u2019t have a fear of people anymore. They\u2019re not even cautious,\u201d<\/a> Weiland said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve driven right up to one in the car and it\u2019s come up, jumped up on to my door to have a smell in the window and then wandered off. They\u2019re not bothered at all. And when they aren\u2019t bothered by people and they\u2019re hungry, that\u2019s where we\u2019re getting dangerous situations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Weiland said \u201cmeaningful increased protections for both dingoes and people\u201d was an ongoing issue on the island, and euthanising the animals after an incident was \u201cvery divisive\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen it comes to people\u2019s safety, you can\u2019t leave any door closed. You can\u2019t take any chances. Zero injuries is the only acceptable total,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The last recorded fatal dingo attack on K\u2019gari took place in 2001, when 9-year-old Clinton Gage was killed by a pair of dingoes after being separated from his mother near Waddy Point.<\/p>\n

James\u2019 parents have asked the Queensland coroner to review the policies governing the sharing of information by rangers about the risk of dingo attacks, the ABC reports.<\/p>\n

The state\u2019s Department of Environment, Tourism, Science, and Innovation (DETSI) warns \u201cknowing how to be dingo-safe on K\u2019gari is important for your safety\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cDingoes are pack hunters. They are apex predators in the island\u2019s ecosystem and need to be treated with respect and safety in mind,\u201d the department\u2019s website reads.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey should never be confused with domestic pets and do not obey commands from people.\u201d<\/p>\n

The department also recommends keeping a distance, carrying a \u201csafety stick\u201d when walking out in the open, and staying in groups as much as possible.<\/p>\n

DETSI has been approached for comment.<\/p>\n

Sign up to Herald Premium Editor\u2019s Picks<\/a>, delivered straight to your inbox every Friday. Editor-in-Chief Murray Kirkness picks the week\u2019s best features, interviews and investigations. Sign up for Herald Premium here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"James\u2019 father Todd told The Courier-Mail he had spoken to his daughter the day before her death, and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":316026,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[33914,74,89,1135,115287,1558,3595,13312,25346,634,171335,147006,9944,1874,42,2514,14054,147005,43,1118,5908,90,33220,12860,24684,38694,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-316025","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-19yearold","9":"tag-after","10":"tag-attack","11":"tag-australian","12":"tag-backpacker","13":"tag-been","14":"tag-by","15":"tag-canadian","16":"tag-cause","17":"tag-death","18":"tag-dingo","19":"tag-dingoes","20":"tag-drowning","21":"tag-found","22":"tag-headlines","23":"tag-island","24":"tag-james","25":"tag-kgari","26":"tag-news","27":"tag-of","28":"tag-official","29":"tag-on","30":"tag-piper","31":"tag-revealed","32":"tag-ruled","33":"tag-surrounded","34":"tag-top-news","35":"tag-top-stories","36":"tag-topnews","37":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316025","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=316025"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316025\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/316026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=316025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=316025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=316025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}