sue January 11th, 2010
I spent Sunday at Eurong. The main grid to Eurong is full of sand and has been full of sand, I am told, for over 2 months. How can it be that the State Government closes two camp grounds just before the holidays due to ‘dangerous dingo behaviour’ but at the very same time facilitates all these dingoes to happily wander in and out of Eurong township?
Eurong locals tell me that there are dingoes currently within the township. Funny how there has been no negtive interactions with these dogs and I really hope that these dingoes are not now euthanised simply for being in the wrong place!
Why has the State Government invested hundreds and thousands of our dollars into building dingo fences but did not provide their very hard working rangers with the necessary equipment and resources to adequately maintain the fences and associated grids?
I’m also told this morning that the grid at Happy Valley has been minus its solar panel so is that grid electrified? I am sure the grid at Eurong isn’t as we walked back and forth on top of the wires on Sunday without getting zapped!
It is time that our State Government removed this unworkable infrastructure and spoke to world renowned animal behavioursits such as Dr Temple Grandin and our local Adam O’Neill to develop a sensible management strategy for our dingoes. The one that they are using now simply does not work!
Eurong grid with Norma and Geoff
Eurong grid full of sand
sue July 21st, 2009
Massive controlled burns on Fraser Island at this time of the year are the norm it seems (FCC 14-7-09). Clouds of smoke billowing into our beautiful blue skies and hectares and hectares of pristine natural habitat destroyed. While it can be claimed that controlled burn offs are a useful tool if carefully done, to provide safety to areas of human habitation, why on earth are we burning Fraser Island? Naturally fire would only occur in this part of the world via lightning activity. Most of our stormy weather coincides with our wet season so fires, I believe, would not have been prevalent on Fraser Island prior to human settlement.
Fraser Island supports a wide and varied unique ecosystem based on pure sand which has developed over eons. The plants that grow there obtain essential nutrients from the leaf litter that falls and slowly decomposes to enrich the sand, together with the waste products of the fauna that live within the branches and feed on the plants. Rainfall provides the other essential ingredient and has helped create the wonderful and varied natural habitat we find on the island today. Burning off this leaf litter surely leaves the plants and the sands vulnerable. Gordon Barsby in a letter to the Chronicle last week is right when he claims that our land management practices need examining. Are we, with the very best of intentions, actually doing more harm than good?
sue June 5th, 2009
I submitted a bit of a story but here are my main points in summary.
We must stop killing dingoes.
We need a truly independent review of the current Dingo Management Plan.
We need a change of culture by staff on Fraser Island.
We need to change the Management structure and refresh the manner in which DERM staff are employed to work on Fraser Island.
We need more scientific research that properly assesses how many dingo’s are on Fraser Island.
We need more scientific research to demonstrate the link between human feeding and dangerous dingo behaviour.
We need to accept that no number of fines will ever totally prevent humans from purposely or accidentally feeding dingoes. (Cannot ever be policed)
We need to take away the dingo fences at Happy Valley and Eurong. People do not want to live in, or holiday in a prison!
We need to let the dingoes be and to train the humans. Be wary be careful and do not let children alone even for a minute. If people are concerned about dingoes then they should not visit the island on their own but be part of accompanied guided tours.
We should not artificially feed the dingoes as I believe this will cause more problems than it will solve.
Just to emphasise that these are my personal views and I am sure that not everyone will agree with me.
sue May 31st, 2009
While I’m not sure that feeding the dingo’s on Fraser Island will solve the ‘problem’ I certainly believe that killing the dogs should stop. This petition closes tomorrow but I think it worth signing if you can.
http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/view/EPetitions_qld/CurrentEPetition.aspx?PetNum=1229
Also I urge interested people to make the effort to send in a simple statement about the review of the dingo management plan. Time is also short for this to be done also.
Fraser Coast residents initially had until close of business tomorrow but DERM has extended the submission cut-off until Friday June 5.
Submissions can be sent to dingo.management@epa.qld.gov.au.
The current strategy is at www.epa.qld.gov.au.
Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service will examine the submissions and pass the findings on to Laurie Corbett for consideration as part of the audit. I also believe that more people than Laurie Corbet who originally was consulted to develop the Dingo Strategy, need to be involved in the review to ensure the review is based on current research. I wonder when last Laurie carried out research on the island?
I am concerned that the dingo strategy is not based on current research and I am concerned that ‘feeding the dingos’ is thought to be the reason that dingo’s ‘attack’ people. The issue is a complex one but the focus of the Parks and Wildlife staff during the past few years has been primarily geared towards stopping people feeding these animals. Firstly this aim is impossible to properly police and enforce as people being people mean that either intentionally or not, the dingo still sees humans as a potential supplier of food.
I do believe it is time for further study and I also wish to see hazing and shooting of the dogs stopped and much more stringent safety training being given to visitors to the island. I’m not aware of any ‘locals’ having experienced any problems with the dogs but visitors to Fraser Island must be made aware that they are entering an environment where a predator lives.
sue May 10th, 2009
It was with sadness yesterday that once again I received news of more dingo killings. The number of dogs killed this year, I am sure, is higher than any year since the killings by EPA/DERM staff began. Stephen O’Grady has written a thoughtful editorial today in the Chronicle. I recommend it and sadly nod my head while reading it.
We are faced with a dilemma. On the mainland dingos are shot and killed routinely. On Fraser Island the dino is synonomous with a ‘natural and uniquely Queensland’ experience. Domestic dogs regularly injure and sometimes kill us human beings. I can’t help but feel that a dingo on Fraser Island only has to look sideways at a human these days and it is marked for extermination.
I will try to find out more details about how we can all provide input into the promised Dingo Management review. In the meantime can anyone travelling to the island keep children close by and be watchful. I have experienced dingos on Fraser Island specifically in Happy Valley prior to the building of the dreaded fences. These dogs did NOT hurt anyone but went about their business without a concern for us two legged creatures.
Someone once asked me if I would be afrad walking alone on the beach on FI. I replied that as long as I had a stout stick with me I would not be afraid of any wildlife. The only creature I would possibly fear would be a male of the homo sapien variety. Sorry to all you wonderful men out there but the only time in my life I have ever feared for my well being, was in the company of the aforementioned!