Damage Control
Oh dear.. who would have thought a little fence would have caused such a fuss? The dingo fence on Fraser Island has suddenly hit the radar again.. this morning we read a report of a local who hurt herself trying to cross the line and now they’ve bulldozed sacred sites!
Now we’re a bit sceptical too but how is it that none of the government blokes thought to check the proposed alignment of the fence with the traditional owners? Eh? In the rush to bang it up before anyone had time to properly assess the idea, the state government might have really stepped in it.
Is Federal intervention really on the horizon? Andy Pandy is in denial on that one and we can’t wait to see what smoke and mirrors the Bligh Government pulls out this time. The fence is not only an eye sore but it will only ensure the dingoes remain hungry. Either remove the animals from the island or provide a sustainable food source to ensure they are fed.
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If it is only Muckan raising the site issue, I am a bit dubious. The fences are at the townships; not in the wild. The townships have regular houses; they are not at all pristine.
Pristine houses or not, they are there. So too is the dingo. Both are introduced, housing by people, the dingo by Aboriginal migration.
Neither are native Australian fauna: The issue is which should have priority!
Personally, I put people ahead of feral dogs.
Remove the problem by removing the dogs.
Feral dogs, dingos? I think that’s drawing a long bow.
They are considered natives, just like Kangaroos and wallabies etc and if we’re going to go back thousands of years to their origins, then I suppose everything is feral.
I’d love to hear the plan to find and remove ALL the dingoes on Fraser Island. Fraser is not like Gilligans Island, it’s a really big place and dingoes haven’t survived there all these years by being dumb enough to allow themselves to be trapped by primitive man.
Miss two, a bitch and a dog and given time, their numbers will increase again anyway.
Man unfortunately lacks a lot of common sense. He builds on the edge of a swamp, then wants to get rid of all the mosquitoes and sandflies. He builds on the boundary of a cane farm and wants to get rid of all the snakes, he swims and gets attacked by sharks at the mouth of a river on an outgoing tide, then wants to trap and kill all the sharks, he builds on a flood plain then wants to find a way to stop the water from flowing through his property when it rains, in fact, man’s superiority complex is the main reason so many problems exist. It’s never a case of “co-exist” but rather a case of “we’re here now, so you’ll have to find somewhere else” not the brightest animal on the planet by a long shot.
How many stories have ever emerged on aborigines being attacked or troubled by dingoes? None I’ve heard and mainly because they acted as scavengers around the aboriginal camps, so food was the motivating factor.
If “superior” man, thought more along the lines of the people who had no problems, then at least, that should be a basis for a solution, and if food was the thing that kept dingoes around the aborigine’s camps and kept them quiet and if morsels of food is what has attracted them to the white mans camps, then common sense dictates that food is the controlling factor, not fences or amateurish and time wasting attempts to trap them, so perhaps the solution of a few feeding stations in the scrub where the supply is regularly replenished from the mainland mainly from all the foods normally dumped by large food shops, butchers etc, thereby keeping the cost down and possibly keeping the animals less aggro by not being constantly starving and eventually, possibly adding to the tourism experience of having native dogs roaming with no interest in humans.
Another point which again, man never seems to come to grips with, is that a dingo is a predator; get rid of dingoes and what other variety of pests, possibly far worse than a dingo could ever be will begin to breed rampant on Fraser Island? It’s happened with other species in other places, so why not here?
Just about all that bayzeyes has said is correct. The real question is what do we do about it? It amazes me that we all seem to know what is wrong, but we do nothing but talk about it!!! Federal, state and local governments shaft us every day and we keep coming back for more. Please tell, just when did democracy die?
Introduced: initially by Asian seafarers well after the arrival of the Aborigines. (NPWS website)
Feral: fierce, savage, untamed, wild - - (Collins dictionary)
Pest: troublesome or harmful thing - - (Collins dictionary)
Surely an accurate description of the Fraser island dingo?
Descended from the Asian / Indian wolf, the Fraser Island dingo is not a pure breed, but a hybrid, its ginger / yellow colour, for example, being derived from interbreeding with domestic dogs. (NPWS website)
Dingos are found in all mainland States and Territories, and are not allowed to be kept as pets in three, require a licence in two, and only NSW allows unregulated ownership as pets.
They have decimated many indigenous animal species since their introduction, and their attacks on humans on Fraser Island is well documented.
Now we are caging humans because of this dog problem! Seems we are placing the interests of people behind, in this case, the convenience of an introduced feral pest.
Feeding stations, away from human habitation, might work, but could also mean in increase in numbers, so back to the other option, remove the dogs.
One means of achieving this would be to introduce a bounty, as exists in several regions of the country.
On the dogs, that is, not the people.
I don’t see the problem. So a couple of people have been attacked. That is tragic for them, but avoidable given caution. More pepole have been attacked by crocidiles, snakes, sharks, stingers etc etc, and even more so by their fellow man.
The great outdoors can be a dangerous place. And so it should be. Otherwise it would be not nearly so interesting. We have sanitized every other part of of our lives to remove all risk, danger and chance of injury even for those who want the risk.
So now we are going to get stuck into nature. No interast in what damage we may cause the balance that may already exist. Are we trying to breed a race of people so timid they will be concerned about the proximity of their own shadow.
Suggestion. Just get rid of the law that prevents people from feeding the dingoes and they can go back to their natural way of life. Scavenging food around itinerant camp sites.
John,
I think I did suggest a logical solution as in feeding in remote areas. It wouldn’t even need to be via actual human activity on the ground; there’s no reason to have a doggy bowl to feed them in, simply drop from the air in places that could be identified from the air.
Where did democracy go?
Simple, watch a few episodes of “Yes Minister” for an explanation. Silvertails who have been allowed to gain too much power, and to pacify the masses, an army of PR people attached to each department to tell fairy stories that border on the believable. Make certain you get the dumbest individual you can to stand for election and with the army of public servants to pacify the public you’re away. Check out some of the dills we have in parliament today. Bligh, Lucas, McNamara, Seeney, and too many more to mention.
Federally not much better, but may be slightly improved after the removal of the pack of stale old extremists that ran the place for 11 years and again constantly brought in laws for which they had no mandate.
Pancho,
With all due respects, wipe the slate clean about the ideas of removing all dingoes on Fraser; it ain’t gunna happen. Take a flight over the place, the size of it is awesome as are the thick forests. Poison, not on due to wiping out other species in the process.
Bounty??? I’m sure the backpackers and tourism people would be rapt in the prospects of hiking through the scrub over there whilst bullets ricocheted off trees around them, I suppose at least the backpackers from Iraq and the Middle East would feel at home.
As regards
“Feral: fierce, savage, untamed, wild - - (Collins dictionary)
Pest: troublesome or harmful thing - - (Collins dictionary)”
Could just as easily describe a cat particularly one that has gone feral. Cats are known as the most efficient killers and greatest destroyers of native animals known to man.
I’m trying to figure how feeding stations could ever lead to increase in breeding habits? They usually roam in packs and as far as nourishment goes, this has never been an impediment to some of the tribes of natives in some regions of Africa, so why should it affect a dog?
John,
Democracy died, after a protracted illness, on Oct 3rd 2007, when Mr. Justice Brereton of the High Court announced that ‘Fee Simple’ has been extinguished, removing all rights for Australians to own property.
Bayzeyes,
Considering the fact that humans have been able to kill off numerous species with little problems in the past, removing dingos from Fraser Island should be a minor exercise. As an example Tasmania is pretty big and bushy, but the Tassie Tiger had no chance. We could have even made a few $$ by issuing hunting licences if our democratic government had not disarmed us!
Agree with you on cats, but the issue here is people are being fenced in against dogs, not cats.
Adequate food always equates with increased numbers. Just imagine the population explosion in your African tribes if food were plentiful.
Reading the comments here, I have to say that they make the Government’s actions look very wise and well considered. The dingos’ right to stay on Fraser should never ever be questioned. Jim Mackellar’s simplistic advocation for allowing people to feed dingos is madness and proof of the electorates good judgement in rejecting him at the election.
waldo it is comments like yours that cause sites like this to lose their respectability and diminish their credibility. To simply dismiss the opinions of every other contributor as unwise and unconsidered is arogance in the extreme. Especially as you do not advance a single reason as to why they are all wrong in every respect and the actions of the government are ‘wise and considered’.
Certainly my suggestions were simplistic. Answers often are. Consider it for a moment though. Before the blanket ban on feeding dingoes on the island how many reported problems were there. For reference see the letter in today’s Chronicle.
Scavenging around campsites is the dingoes natural environment and lifestyle. Thats how they lived before the arrival of white man to these shores. Now, this may not be the whole answer but if you change something (feeding the dingoes) and there are subsequently problems that did not exist before, then it is reasonable to try reversing the situation and seeing if the problem is diminished.
But back to your comments. If you are going to make a contribution try to make it a positive one. Be part of the solution to our non-participatory democracy not part of the problem. Tell us why you do not agree with our comments, explain where you think we have gone wrong, and then provide us with what, in your view, are the correct facts. Then we will be able to consider your contibution fairly and decide on our view of your opinions.
It is so easy to sit on the sidelines and take cheap shots that do not contribute to any worthwhile solution but degrade those who are willing to put some thought into the issues that face our community. So waldo, try to be a builder not a destroyer, a contributor not a sniper and we will be able to listen to you with a bit a respect.
MacKellar you will never be able to correct or justify your comments. They are simplistic and wrong. Why don’t you ask Clinton Gage’s family their opinion of attacting dingos to campsites?! Feeding lions at campsites in South Africa doesn’t stop them attacking campers. Feeding Grizzlies at campsites in the Rockies does not stop them attacking campers.
“Scavenging around campsites is the dingoes natural environment and lifestyle”. Rubbish. Hunting in the wild is their natural environment and lifestyle!
Neither is the Minister for nothing and everything Andy Pandy’s fence going to make any difference either. The area where Clinton was attacked is still not fenced. Andrew MacNamara is a city slicker who has no idea about Fraser Island but wants to impose his stupid city ideas on the residents over there.
Simple remote feeding stations will attract dingoes away from people.
Never hurts to be polite but I suppose we weren’t all brought up the same. Didn’t you read the elderly lady’s letter in the paper to which I refered.
Clinton Gage was attacked in the period after the feeding was outlawed. That is exactly the point the lady was making. When we used to go over to the island years ago we never had any problems with the dingoes because they were not starving. The same happens with any species that you starve, including humans. They get desperate and then they do desperate things.
When they were fed they would never think to attack the source of their food. Dogs are a lot smarter than that. Remember that dingoes are just that. Dogs, they are not bears or lions. They are not prime predators but domestic dogs gone wild.
The dingo was the first introduced domestic mammal to our environment. It came here with the first settlers, the aboriginals, x thousands of years ago. It was their domestic dog and its natural environment is in human camps. Of course some of them have gone wild, just as some of the domestic dogs that white man has introduced have gone wild. That does not mean that this is their natural state in our environment.
To equate the dingo with either lions or grizzlie bears is to misunderstand the nature of the dingo completely. The dingo is not even a natural hunter. It much prefers to eat scavange than to have to kill for its tucker. When we were young on the farm we would shoot roos to keep them off the pasture and the cane. The carcasses were always cleaned up by the dingoes and we never had a single calf attack during the entire period we were doing it. Why? Because the dingo is not a natural hunter he is a scavanger.
One of the ways to tell the difference between a wild dog attack and a dingo attack is always by the size of the animals attacked. Dingoes will only attack the very smallest of animals, like calves and kids, while wild dogs will bring down any animals. Why? Because the dingo is not a natural hunter. They prefer to scavenge.
The idea of feeding stations is good. There is extra cost involved of course. But it will not keep the dingoes away from the campsites. The ones that they have taken off the island and released on the mainland are known by their habits of approaching houses and people. Why would they do this in areas with plenty of potential food. Because they are more than used to the presence of humans and they will always gravitate towards them. It is natural for them to do this. They are after all only a domestic dog.