After the tragic death of Canadian backpacker Piper James in K’gari (Fraser Island) on January 19, a coroner found that the 19-year-old had been bitten by dingoes while he was still alive, but the probable cause to death drowned.

Days later, the Queensland government announced it would be removed the whole package of the ten dingoes seen near Piper’s body. Most of the animals are now slaughtered.

The authorities justified the targeted cull of “public safety” grounds while also signaling a strong desire to keep tourism moving. Queensland Tourism Minister Andrew Powell assured tourism operators “open the island” and encourage people to continue visiting.

The cull happened without the knowledge or consent of the Butchulla people, the Traditional Owners of K’Gari. James’ parents too publicly opposed a cullsaying it was the “last thing” their nature-loving daughter wanted. There was backlash from scientific expertsas well as the public.

So, does killing dingoes actually make K’gari safer for humans?

The perfect storm

K’gari’s dingoes (called Wongari in Butchulla) are a population of high conservation and cultural value on this World Heritage-listed sand island. Estimates put their numbers between 70 and 200.

Many visitors (about 450,000 per year) to the almost 1,600 square kilometer island means dingoes and people same beaches and meet in ways they usually don’t on the mainland. Most encounters are harmless, even fun. Less than 1% of visitors experience negative interaction, and many tourists visit the island especially for look at the dingoes.

Of course, the risk increases when dingoes and people are present very close. Dingoes are often intentionally or unintentionally rewarded with food scraps or scavenging, which is encouraging wandered.

Most of the injuries caused by dingoes are minor, viz nips, bites, and scratches. Severe attack by dingoes very rare in K’gari and the mainland. Children are most vulnerable because of their small size.

The Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service has working steadily to reduce events. Some “Be sure to be safe” campaign includes education, signs, fenced areas, and even “dingo sticks” to prevent animals from approaching. But often these safety warnings are ignored. People feed the dingoes or leave food in their tents or bags, get too close to the dingoes, and let the children roam around unsupervised.

For an apex predator, dingoes are relatively small and dog-like. For many visitors, they don’t look dangerous, and people forget Dingoes are wild predators.

Decades of lethal control

Authorities have long relied on lethal control of dingoes in K’gari. Between 2001 and 2013, 110 dingoes were killed. In 2001, after the death of the nine-year-old Clinton Gage28 were killed immediately. In an average year, one in two die.

Removing up to ten dingoes is costly for the island’s small population. Genetically, the K’gari population has low diversity and effective population size about 25 (meaning that only about 25 animals effectively pass on the genes, even though there are many dingoes). Studies have been found inbreedinggenetic isolation, and reducing genetic variation of K’gari dingoes in the last two decades.

High levels of inbreeding can lead to physical deformity, reduced breeding success, and increased risk of local extinction. On an island, there is a limited amount of space for “new” dingoes and their genes to arrive, so every avoidable death counts.

So our 2025 population viability analysis thought provoking. We found that if dingo mortality rates remain close to natural levels, the population can remain stable. But additional deaths due to mass culls or disease outbreaks expose the animals to a higher risk of extinction. Because of this the dingoes on the island are more likely to die. In the highest-risk scenarios we modeled (which included multiple mass culling events), extinction risk became high in about 50 years. Survival will be close to zero in 100 years.

Culling rarely solves safety problems

Records of dingo incidents in K’gari provide little evidence that killing dingoes provides lasting security. our analysis of “highest severity” incidents reported found that the island had an average of 10.7 reports a year from 2001 to 2015. There was no clear decrease in incidents, although more than 110 dingoes were destroyed in that period.

What we found was a predictable seasonal pattern. About 40% of serious incidents occur during the breeding season (March to May) and 30% during the whelping season (June to August). These are the times when dingoes are more active and the social dynamic is intensified. During breeding, dingoes (especially young males) become more expansive and test the boundaries. During whiling, adults become more cautious and take more risks in the quest to meet the pups’ demands.

The chance of serious incidents rises and falls with the dingo’s life history and behavior, as well as what people do around them. Incidents are not defined by visitor numbers alone.

When a dingo approaches people or wanders near them, they may be called “heavy-headed” and are more likely to be killed. But these behaviors are not abnormal in a wildlife tourism situation. They are predictable responses to people, food, and opportunity. Young men are often the most persistent around people but become less exploratory as they mature or disperse.

People’s problem, not dingo’s problem

K’gari dingoes do what wild predators do, just as sharks and crocodiles do in Australia’s oceans and rivers.

Our safety depends on how we behave in wild places. To reduce dangerous encounters with wildlife, save your food and trash, keep your children alone, never go outside alone, respect park guidelines, and stop giving rewards like food. Killing dingoes will not make K’gari safer. Changing human behavior and attitudes.

Bradley P. SmithSenior Lecturer in Psychology, CQUniversity Australia and Kylie M. CairnsResearch Fellow in Canid and Wildlife Genomics, UNSW Sydney. This article was reprinted from The Conversation under Creative Commons license. Read the original article.