S1: From the newsrooms of the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.
S1: This is the morning edition. I'm Tammy Mills filling in
S1: for Samantha Selinger. Morris. It's Monday, April 28th. Gary, formally
S1: known as Fraser Island, is one of Australia's natural wonders.
S1: And every year almost half a million people enjoy its
S1: wild and sprawling environment. But as visitor numbers swell, the
S1: question of how tourists co-exist with some of the island's
S1: oldest residents, the dingo becomes more important. 24 years after
S1: a nine year old boy was fatally mauled by two
S1: dingoes on Gary, strategies to manage the animal and humans
S1: haven't stopped attacks from occurring. Today, we speak with Brisbane
S1: Times journalist Courtney Crook on the story of the Dingoes
S1: of Gary. So, Courtney, to start, can you set the
S1: scene of Gary? What's the island known for and how
S1: popular is it for tourists and holidaymakers? Yeah. So Gary
S1: or Fraser Island, as it was formerly known up until
S1: a few years ago, is a World Heritage listed island
S1: off the coast of Queensland. Uh, it's the largest sand
S1: island in the world, so it has remnants of tall rainforest.
S1: There's a really long stretch of sand beach, uh, freshwater lakes.
S1: I think Aura or Lake Mackenzie, as most people know it. Um,
S1: I think that has got to be one of the
S1: most beautiful freshwater lakes I've ever seen or swum in. It's. Yeah,
S1: the whole island is Paradise. Um, so it's a it's
S1: about 300km north of Brisbane. Um, and it's estimated to
S1: attract nearly half a million visitors every year. So I
S1: would say it's definitely one of our most popular tourist destinations.
S1: And I think part of its appeal is, is how
S1: rugged and wild it is. So it's only four wheel
S1: drive accessible. Um, a lot of remote camping sites. It's
S1: definitely a place that people would go to really just
S1: switch off from from the real world. Well, it sounds
S1: like an idyllic place to visit, but then, bordering its
S1: beachside resorts, they've actually got fences. And those fences are
S1: fitted with warning signs. So what do they say? So
S1: you got the eastern side of Gary. If you don't
S1: have a four wheel drive, you'll probably come over with
S1: a tour group or jump on a ferry on the
S1: western side of the island. You come from Harvey Bay
S1: and that drops you straight into Kingfisher Resort, which is
S1: I think is the biggest and resort on the island,
S1: and it is probably the most popular. But it's bordered
S1: on all sides by dingo exclusion fencing, and that is
S1: just a very hard separation between dingoes or wongari, as
S1: they're known to the bachelor people.
S2: Across 2000km² of forest and sand dunes and Fraser Island
S2: somewhere lurk about 300 wild dingoes, Most will never be seen,
S2: but those that are seen have become audacious and opportunistic
S2: in their dealings with people. And as we saw this week,
S2: the fault lies.
S1: If you want to enter the beach on either side,
S1: you pass through gates and each are fitted with these
S1: giant big block letters. Danger. Then there's a warning underneath
S1: that aggressive dingo behaviour towards people as occurred in the area. Uh,
S1: and you're basically warned that dingoes can nip, bite or
S1: savagely attack without provocation. And it gives you tips on
S1: what to do if you encounter a dingo, if you
S1: feel threatened by a dingo. Um, yeah. And anyone leaving
S1: that exclusion zone is encouraged to take a safety stick. Um,
S1: so there I'd either you walk past, you walk through
S1: the gates, you might see a bucket, you might see
S1: a bin. You might see a tree stump in there
S1: filled with these different kinds of sticks. Some are just
S1: big tree branches, sticks of bamboo, lengths of rubber. And
S1: you if you're going out and about, you want to
S1: have one of those on you. And I imagine, though,
S1: that the dingoes have been on Gary for a long time. Right.
S1: Presumably they've coexisted relatively peaceful with humans, or should I
S1: say maybe humans have coexisted relatively peacefully with them. So
S1: what's the story of the dingoes? So I think they're
S1: one of our most identifiable native animals. Um, and we
S1: call them a native animal. In Australia, they were introduced
S1: between 3000 and 5000 years ago. And I think, interestingly,
S1: in doing this research for this story was to see
S1: that they arrived as seafarers from South East Asia. So
S1: they would have been like an ancient domestic dog, uh,
S1: when they arrived. They're a canid, so they're related to
S1: wolves and coyotes, and they're apex predators. They're the largest
S1: terrestrial carnivore in Australia. Um, they're really powerful hunters, you know,
S1: they're they they they're so beautiful. They look like dogs.
S1: They look very approachable. But they are amazing predators. They, um,
S1: have a lot of of power. And, you know, they'll
S1: hunt alone. They'll hunt in small packs. But they're also
S1: really opportunistic. So they're also like scavengers, which I believe
S1: coyotes are as well. And if you go back on,
S1: on Gary itself, um, to kind of when The Bachelor.
S1: So that's Gary's traditional owners, uh, lived on the island.
S1: They talk about there being two types of dingoes. So the,
S1: the wongari that we call today, the wild dingoes. But
S1: then the Waja and the Waja were their camp dogs.
S1: They were basically like their companion dogs. They helped them
S1: hunt and track. They they protected them from bad spirits
S1: and and the wongari and then, you know, comes European settlement, colonialism.
S1: The bachelor were forced off the island. Uh, the dingoes, the.
S1: No more wages, the wages that returned to being wongari
S1: wild dogs. And I, you know, sort of looking at
S1: more recent history, the last, say, 30 to 40 years
S1: as we've become that tourist destination, as we've got more
S1: people visiting and interacting with Wangari. Um, they become more habituated.
S1: They they become more used to people. They, you know,
S1: there's more interactions. And they were obviously losing a bit
S1: of their natural fear and caution of people or getting
S1: a bit bolder in their behaviour or, you know, people
S1: were were just actively interacting with them more. Uh, but
S1: they weren't seen as, as, you know, this animal capable of, of, um,
S1: causing a, an attack and a fatality, a serious threat,
S1: I guess you would say. Yeah. So something must have changed, though,
S1: that there now were at this point where there's fences
S1: that separate people from that dingo habitat. So what's changed?
S1: I think the, the very big, crucial part of Gowri's
S1: history is when Clinton Gage died in 2001.
S3: At Waddy Point, a memorial to Clinton Gage. The nine
S3: year old was on Easter holidays with his family when
S3: he was mauled to death in 2001. Experts say the
S3: timing of yesterday's attack was no coincidence.
S1: That was nearly 25 years ago, actually, um, that happened
S1: on the 30th of April, and they were staying at
S1: Waddy Point and Clinton, nine years old at the time,
S1: gone for a walk with a with a friend. And
S1: he ends up Clinton being attacked by these two dingoes.
S1: And they fatally mauled Clinton, um, that his his father
S1: rushed over. His brother rushed over to try and help. Um,
S1: Dylan actually got bitten by the dingoes as well. So yeah,
S1: extremely traumatic event. And I think talking to people, uh,
S1: you know, like Rob Appleby, who's an oncologist and, you know,
S1: went and did his PhD in 20 years of research
S1: over there afterwards. And Doctor Linden Bernoff, who is, you know,
S1: the senior Ranger over there was on the island at
S1: the time, and they talk about just a Linda as well,
S1: really specifically making that point that everything changed from that day.
S1: You know, that that very much became how do we
S1: make sure this never happens again? Um. Oh my God,
S1: dingoes can attack. They can fatally attack someone they can kill.
S1: So that kind of really changed everything. We'll be right back. Well,
S1: it's interesting because, you know, saying that it's the case
S1: that kind of showed people that dingoes have this power
S1: and this ability to kill people. When we have, of course,
S1: a case that is etched in our cultural memory as
S1: Australians is the Azaria Chamberlain case. And I guess listeners
S1: will already know this, but Azaria was just a nine
S1: week old baby when she was taken by a dingo
S1: while she was camping with her family at Uluru in 1980.
S1: And Lindy, her mother, was accused of her murder. She
S1: was exonerated, but it took years and years and years.
S1: And you mentioned before we spoke today that there's a
S1: link between Clinton and Azaria's case. Can you tell us
S1: about this? Anyone who's familiar with that cases, most will
S1: be will know that Lindy went to jail and there
S1: were inquests and there were all these sorts of things.
S4: A fourth coronial inquest into the disappearance of Azaria Chamberlain
S4: has ruled that a dingo was responsible for her death
S4: in 1980. Coroner Elizabeth Morris brought the 32 year saga
S4: to a close with an apology to Azaria's parents for
S4: the loss of their baby daughter. The coroner said that
S4: evidence about dingoes lurking at Uluru at the time, as
S4: well as hundreds of attacks by dingoes since Azaria's disappearance,
S4: excluded all other reasonable possibilities. Outside the court, Michael Chamberlain
S4: said he hoped the.
S1: Clintons Death and definitely some events. Some attacks that happened
S1: afterwards formed definitely part of that knowledge that a dingo
S1: can attack, it can cause a fatality. And that was
S1: cited in that fourth inquest as one of the changing,
S1: you know, just how much our understanding of dingo behaviour
S1: and their power and predication and, you know, familiarization with people, um,
S1: can do that and definitely changed our understanding, I think
S1: definitely helped to by that point, there was probably a
S1: whole body of evidence that was cited in, um, exonerating
S1: Lindy from that, but it definitely formed part of that
S1: evidence in our understanding of, you know, what they're capable of,
S1: because there's been attacks that have happened since then and
S1: over recent years, despite all these, what we or what
S1: people now know about dingo behaviour, and despite having these
S1: preventative measures in place Around the resorts like the attacks
S1: still have continued. Right. And even I think Wednesday or
S1: the Thursday before Good Friday, a woman was bitten on
S1: the island and she was at a camping ground, I think,
S1: near Eurong, and she was was bitten, you know, literally
S1: just walking from the campsite down to the ocean on
S1: the hand. There have been dozens, you know, already this year.
S1: So there's already in 2025, been 31 incidents, I think
S1: last year, 2024 with about 147. But it's the year
S1: before that, 2023. That really was, I think over 200, um,
S1: maybe even over 250 combined incidences because that was just
S1: after Covid, right? The Covid lockdowns, more people coming onto
S1: the island, more people potentially interacting with dingoes after they
S1: had a period of like not seeing people at all. Right. Totally.
S1: We had a lot of people probably visiting the island
S1: for the first time. So big influx. The big you know,
S1: people who don't know they're not well, um, seasoned travelers
S1: to Gary. They're discovering it for the first time. I
S1: think you put more people on in any place where
S1: there's a wild animal, and those interactions are going to increase.
S1: So is it a problem with people or has something
S1: changed with dingo behavior? What Linda and what Rob say
S1: is we've got 99.9% of people doing the right thing.
S1: And they're really careful and they're really they follow the rules.
S1: They would not approach a dingo. They would, um, keep
S1: their children close by. They would properly manage their waste
S1: and food and whatnot. We only need to have just one,
S1: you know, bad incident. But I their food conditioning that,
S1: you know, is so strong that they would only need
S1: to find it once. They would only need to know
S1: that that's a reason that food might present itself. Um,
S1: but I should mention as well that Linda said, you know,
S1: she's done a lot of research in this space, and
S1: a lot of the attacks aren't food orientated. They're not,
S1: you know, most attacks aren't because the dingo is running
S1: at a person trying to get their food or, you know,
S1: be aggressive around food. Um, but the converse to that,
S1: I suppose, is that, um, as Rob said, food sets
S1: the stage. Food sets the stage for this interaction, for
S1: these interactions, for this curiosity, for this closeness. Yeah. Because
S1: you mentioned that the nature of a dingo and its
S1: food conditioning response. What do you mean by that? Yeah.
S1: So you know that that I guess they're kind of, um,
S1: habituation is a word that gets used a lot. And
S1: that is they, you know, they're getting familiar then, um,
S1: they're associating. Oh, there's that. That person means there's that
S1: food source, you know, there's that bait bucket. I might
S1: get thrown that scrap of fish, something like that. I'll
S1: come back. And then they lose their fear of humans.
S1: They get habituated. Um, and then they kind of. Yeah.
S1: And we see that that, that that's not uniquely a
S1: thing that happens in a lot of places where you've got, uh,
S1: you know, bears interacting with a township and rummaging through
S1: rubbish like that just becomes that, um, food conditioning. And
S1: I think in a way, I kind of set out
S1: wanting to understand why we had this, why why we
S1: still have these ongoing attacks, um, especially hearing about it over,
S1: you know, the summer or the Easter period. And it
S1: feels like it might be every few weeks. And I'm like, well,
S1: why are these still happening? Like, what's is it the
S1: the animal behaviour? Or is it something that that's happening
S1: on the island? And I think I thought I was
S1: going to answer that and I didn't answer that, but
S1: I think that they've really put in some, um, amazing
S1: efforts to try and keep humans and animals safe and
S1: apart from each other. But there's just so much. I
S1: you know, you're talking about trying to control or understand
S1: a wild animal, but you're also talking about trying to
S1: control thousands and understand the behavior of thousands of people.
S1: And even going to Eli Creek on an overcast, pretty
S1: mundane day. There's still busloads of tourists rocking up in
S1: these giant long buses driving down the beach. You've got
S1: groups there on a box, drinking and floating around the creek.
S1: You've got children running around and playing. There's just so
S1: many variables in being in this kind of island environment,
S1: holiday mode that you can't control. So what's the priority here? Like,
S1: has there been any thought to actually reducing the number
S1: of people that visit the island every year? Like what's
S1: you know, how do you strike a balance between tourism
S1: and protecting the tourists and also protecting the animals? So
S1: we had a sustainability, you know, an independent sustainability report
S1: that looked at a bunch of different tourist destinations in Queensland,
S1: including Gowrie, and sort of made some recommendations based on
S1: on their observations. And one of them was to kind
S1: of introduce a tourist cap. It reduced the number of
S1: visitors on at certain times of the year. And the
S1: former labor, labor state government endorsed that idea. They endorsed
S1: that recommendation and to capture some numbers on the 20th
S1: busiest days of the year. The LNP, since coming into
S1: power late last year, have essentially said, no, we're not
S1: going to do that. Um, you know, they when I
S1: reached out to them for this story, our Environment minister,
S1: Andrew Powell, responded and said the government there determined that
S1: our wonderful natural areas like Gowrie are open and accessible
S1: to all. So, you know, we're not suggesting that they
S1: would not remain open and accessible to all. It's just
S1: putting a little bit of a control onto how many
S1: people access that at certain times. The other thing, too,
S1: I think that is worth noting that I certainly didn't
S1: realise before starting this story, is that Easter right now
S1: we're in the middle of dingo breeding season. We've got
S1: this massive influx of people visiting the island, but we
S1: have dingoes that are, you know, they're protecting their territories.
S1: They're warding off other dingoes. Then you've got all of
S1: these people in that environment at the same time. And
S1: there is research that has been conducted over a period
S1: looking at, you know, a section of time on Garry
S1: and monitoring the attacks that occurred. And such a huge
S1: number had occurred during breeding season, which is March to May.
S1: And others, including Clinton. Clinton died during dingo breeding season.
S1: I think that it would be a idea worth exploring
S1: at some of these high season, peak season periods on
S1: Garry that also coincide with, um, times that we know
S1: that dingoes are going to be exhibiting certain behaviours, or
S1: they might be, you know, we can't this is this
S1: is their island. This is their their home. And these
S1: are wild animals that we need to protect and need
S1: to allow to be their own species, and we also
S1: need to protect people. But yeah, in essence, I think
S1: that that a that a tourist cap and it's not
S1: just for the one group, it's not just for, um,
S1: dingo management. This is a World Heritage listed island that
S1: has been pummelled by four wheel drives, um, creating so much,
S1: you know, waste. This is an ecologically important site. It's
S1: a marine conservation park. It's, you know, so many different
S1: species that could benefit from that break. And what are
S1: the island's indigenous communities say about this? How do they
S1: think best way forward? I think, you know, they're really
S1: keen to obviously. Um, and I spoke to the Butchulla
S1: Aboriginal Corporation, um, community engagement officer, Tessa Wyatt, and, you know,
S1: she works very closely with Linda, uh, to look at
S1: these attacks to, you know, when an incident happens, how
S1: they communicate it, how they investigate it, and then how
S1: they further mitigate it. And they're not standing there saying that, um,
S1: people shouldn't come. You know, we can't have tourists. Hungary. Tessa,
S1: as a spokesperson, said that, you know, they would love
S1: for the island to kind of have a cultural be
S1: led by cultural knowledge, which I think this is something
S1: that we're kind of grappling with all over Australia is that, um,
S1: you know, we've got people who have that cultural knowledge
S1: of land management or how to interact with the natural environment,
S1: and their knowledge is being brought to the forefront. I
S1: think that they probably see shutting down the island or
S1: restricting numbers as a way that could be really beneficial, um, for,
S1: for the land, for the animals, for, for everything about it. Um, but,
S1: you know, they've their cultural knowledge was driven off. Gary.
S1: So this would be a chance for them to talk about,
S1: you know, they they had a harmonious relationship with the
S1: land and the island for thousands of years. So I
S1: think it's worth paying attention to what they have to
S1: say on this. Well, thank you, Courtney, so much for
S1: joining us on the podcast. You're welcome. Today's episode of
S1: The Morning Edition was produced by Josh towers, with technical
S1: assistance by Julia Carcasole. Tom McKendrick is our head of audio.
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S1: in your inbox every day. Links are in the show. Notes.
S1: I'm Tammy Mills, this is the morning edition. Thanks for listening.