Fraser island dingo fence

[Jezza]

Just curious to see what everyone else thinks of the dingo fence being put up on Fraser Island (around Happy Valley i think). I live in maryborough which is very close to fraser and i Visit it regulary. Personaly i think its a load of S**t give it a year and the fence will be rusted. None of the incedents that have occured with the dingoes have even Happened Near Happy Valley they have all occured on the beaches. Not to mention all the vegetation they cleared to make it.
Well just my 2 cents

Cheers jezza

[Bazza]

It's not the first fence they have on the island, and won't be the last. Main reason is stupid people still feed them or leave their campsites not in accordance with npws guidelines.

[lemmiwinks]

No stupid people removed the dingos first and second sources of food horses and the tip, correct me if I am wrong. If idiots left the natural world alone and got a life or a real job then they wouldnt have time to make up these dumb rules which will lead to someone getting hurt..A starving dingo can be a real handfull..

[XTfreak]

Why not just move the people off the island and leave the dingoes alone?
Bill

[hunt or be hunted]

Why not just move the people off the island and leave the dingoes alone?
Bill

i couldn't agree more.

dan.

[nev]

why the dingo isnt a native animal and is just as destructive as a fox

[XTfreak]

why the dingo isnt a native animal and is just as destructive as a fox
Maybe not. But he was here before most man...
Bill

[jindydiver]

While it is true that the dingo is a late arrival to the continent, in the many thousands of years it has been here it has evolved with the land and now fills a niche and is necessary for the good health of the ecosystems where it lives. The problem of course is that in recent times we (humans) have changed the balance in many of the places where dingos live and this imbalance has led to the dingo also becoming a pest (even though it still does it's original job).
the dingo isnt a native animal and is just as destructive as a fox
Everything the dingo could have wiped out is already gone (not counting where human works artificially sustain an over population).

[Bazza]

Maybe not. But he was here before most man...
Bill

Sorry, no. It is an introduced species....introduced by, you guess it man !! As for your other comment, I do hope you were joking.

I cannot count the number of times/trips to fraser I've done. I have NEVER had a dingo problem. Follow the rules set down and you, your campsite and companions will be fine living in harmony with the dingo. Aboriginals have done it for thousands of years.

"Under the Nature Conservation Act 1992, the dingo
is a species declared indigenous to Australia. Sections 17
and 62 of the Act provide for the legal protection of the
dingo as a natural resource in protected areas such as
national parks. Consequently, a dingo cannot be interfered
with on a protected area unless the chief executive has
granted a permit or authority. Elsewhere in Queensland
dingoes are a declared (pest) species under s70(4) of the
Rural Lands Protection Act 1985." From http://www.epa.qld.gov.au/publications/p00500aa.pdf/Fraser_Island_dingo_management_strategy.pdf

[Know eye deer]

It is not hard to not get attacked by a dingo, I have managed to make it off Fraser numerous times without being attacked!

If you are in the situation where there is a chance you could be attacked by an dingo you have usually done something stupid. Most of the time children are attacked. Whilst they are regrettable they can be prevented by a little bit of "parenting", something that is getting lost these days.

Where dingos are involved, an alert person is an alive person!

[XTfreak]

Sorry, no. It is an introduced species....introduced by, you guess it man !! As for your other comment, I do hope you were joking.

I cannot count the number of times/trips to fraser I've done. I have NEVER had a dingo problem. Follow the rules set down and you, your campsite and companions will be fine living in harmony with the dingo. Aboriginals have done it for thousands of years.

"Under the Nature Conservation Act 1992, the dingo
is a species declared indigenous to Australia. Sections 17
and 62 of the Act provide for the legal protection of the
dingo as a natural resource in protected areas such as
national parks. Consequently, a dingo cannot be interfered
with on a protected area unless the chief executive has
granted a permit or authority. Elsewhere in Queensland
dingoes are a declared (pest) species under s70(4) of the
Rural Lands Protection Act 1985." From http://www.epa.qld.gov.au/publications/p00500aa.pdf/Fraser_Island_dingo_management_strategy.pdf
Well your right the dingoe is an introduced species and so is man.
Ummm actually I was NOT joking.
When ever an animal becomes a pest due to humans encroaching on its territory it is always the animal that gets the short end of the stick.
Then people whine and ***** when they become extinct...
Bill

[Bazza]

So you'd kick off the hundreds (maybe thousands) of people who live and work on the island, the aboriginals that have lived there for thousands of years, and the thousands of tourists, fishermen and family campers ? What about the other people in surround townships that make money from passers through. Barge operators, takeaway shops, tackle shops etc etc
I'm affraid what you've suggested is a knee jerk reation that is most unwise and uncalled for. What needs to happen is integration and education, which I believe is slowly working on the island. Being protected in a NP is fine, which is what is happening. Do not bring into this topic what happens off the island as I believe that is another matter for a different thread and one I am most happy to air my views about appropriately, if that is what your refering to.

[XTfreak]

So you'd kick off the hundreds (maybe thousands) of people who live and work on the island, the aboriginals that have lived there for thousands of years, and the thousands of tourists, fishermen and family campers ? What about the other people in surround townships that make money from passers through. Barge operators, takeaway shops, tackle shops etc etc
I'm affraid what you've suggested is a knee jerk reation that is most unwise and uncalled for. What needs to happen is integration and education, which I believe is slowly working on the island. Being protected in a NP is fine, which is what is happening. Do not bring into this topic what happens off the island as I believe that is another matter for a different thread and one I am most happy to air my views about appropriately, if that is what your refering to.
I have no idea what your talking about in the bold.
If integration and education are working why the fence?
Once the fence goes up I dont imagine it will ever come back down, no matter who leanrns what.
I may be wrong (wouldnt be the first time) but the dingoes were there first. So again is it the humans encroaching and animals suffering for it?
Bill

[Bazza]

Nope. Aboriginals were on the island first.
The main problem is people feeding them. Be it actually handing them food or leaving open the tucker box. The problem is a couple of things need to happen before a dingo will go bonkers and start trying to rip peoples hands off. The start is attraction, that is say, opertunistic hunting by the dingo. Feeding on scraps left out, fish frames etc etc. Second is Habit. Out of habit they will go looking for easy targets as per previous description. Then interaction. When someone who doesn't know **** from shoe polish decides that Mr or Mrs dingo is just like Jack the family pooch and thinks that because they are lean they need to be fed and played with. Bad idea. This has now associated humans with food. Now the last one is aggression. If someone stopped feeding you you'd get cranky. That's all that is happening here. Over population from the above actions now produces too many dingoes and upsets the balance. They become increasingly aggressive towards humans until someone does something silly like trys to play or runs away and Bob's your fathers brother someone gets attacked. Bit like running 20,000 head of cattle on a property when all it can manage to sustain is 15,000. Destined for disaster. Mismanagment caused this mess, so management has to clean it up.
Now because NPWS cannot control the actions of everyone on the island the next best thing they can do is provide camping areas segregated (dingo proofed) and information on how to discourage the above happening. Hence the fences. There has been one around the camp area at Dundaburra for years now. Obviously a trial, one they believed worked so looks like implementation across the big campsites is rolling out. Protecting of the public from the public more like, but anyway, it's happening.

There is a massive 'Fraser' industry and by your suggestion of kicking everyone off, it really got on my nerves. I love to visit, fish, explore and camp anywhere possible on that island and I believe it would be a terrible waste for everyone to have pockets of land like that that nobody can visit.

Regarding the bold, I thought you might have been eluding to the likes of farms 'taking up' areas that were not farmed before, or maybe new housing estates pushing out areas where once wildlife roamed.

Hope that cleared it up.

[XTfreak]

Nope. Aboriginals were on the island first.
The main problem is people feeding them. Be it actually handing them food or leaving open the tucker box. The problem is a couple of things need to happen before a dingo will go bonkers and start trying to rip peoples hands off. The start is attraction, that is say, opertunistic hunting by the dingo. Feeding on scraps left out, fish frames etc etc. Second is Habit. Out of habit they will go looking for easy targets as per previous description. Then interaction. When someone who doesn't know **** from shoe polish decides that Mr or Mrs dingo is just like Jack the family pooch and thinks that because they are lean they need to be fed and played with. Bad idea. This has now associated humans with food. Now the last one is aggression. If someone stopped feeding you you'd get cranky. That's all that is happening here. Over population from the above actions now produces too many dingoes and upsets the balance. They become increasingly aggressive towards humans until someone does something silly like trys to play or runs away and Bob's your fathers brother someone gets attacked. Bit like running 20,000 head of cattle on a property when all it can manage to sustain is 15,000. Destined for disaster. Mismanagment caused this mess, so management has to clean it up.
Now because NPWS cannot control the actions of everyone on the island the next best thing they can do is provide camping areas segregated (dingo proofed) and information on how to discourage the above happening. Hence the fences. There has been one around the camp area at Dundaburra for years now. Obviously a trial, one they believed worked so looks like implementation across the big campsites is rolling out. Protecting of the public from the public more like, but anyway, it's happening.

There is a massive 'Fraser' industry and by your suggestion of kicking everyone off, it really got on my nerves. I love to visit, fish, explore and camp anywhere possible on that island and I believe it would be a terrible waste for everyone to have pockets of land like that that nobody can visit.

Regarding the bold, I thought you might have been eluding to the likes of farms 'taking up' areas that were not farmed before, or maybe new housing estates pushing out areas where once wildlife roamed.

Hope that cleared it up.
Alas this is true.
BUT
The aboriginals that are here now are NOT the original settlers.
So was it the first group that brought the dingoes or the second group?
And no I do NOT want too see people displaced because a few can not act as they should around dingos. I just couldnt see any other way...
Bill

[the real]

From a person that has never been to the island, isn’t the Island slowly being destroyed with the overwhelming 4wd to the beaches / tourism etc?

[dazza]

From a person that has never been to the island, isn’t the Island slowly being destroyed with the overwhelming 4wd to the beaches / tourism etc?

to a point maybe [small],i think the sawmills and sand quarrys would have stuffed it for good,most beach driving is don at low tide,off the beach you stick to designated tracks.I' know i wanna go back.

[nev]

so in other words don't shoot cats or foxes cos eventually they'll also become part of the Eco systam

[jindydiver]

so in other words don't shoot cats or foxes cos eventually they'll also become part of the Eco systam


Now you are just being a goose

[nev]

why its not a native to Australia so it is feral ,feral means vermin and no i wasn't I'm a realist , more than i can say for others, because the government says doesn't make it so .dear and trout are other introduced species that you cant shoot or fish when you want to either ,I've never hunted dear but loved trout fishing but that doesn't make it right they are still feral animals

[jindydiver]

Maybe you got dropped on your head when you were a baby :)

[Bazza]

why its not a native to Australia so it is feral ,feral means vermin and no i wasn't I'm a realist , more than i can say for others, because the government says doesn't make it so .dear and trout are other introduced species that you cant shoot or fish when you want to either ,I've never hunted dear but loved trout fishing but that doesn't make it right they are still feral animals


Your not allowed to shoot anything (other than with a camera) in a national park. That includes animals that are otherwise classed as pests. Trout fishing has some strange rules, but we are talking about dingoes on fraser island.

[nev]

i was just pointing out just because the gov says that dingos are native many people don't see it that way. because of what thave done with other species of animals i don't think any of it makes sense.

[Gulf Addict]

From a person that has never been to the island, isn’t the Island slowly being destroyed with the overwhelming 4wd to the beaches / tourism etc?

Actually the island is being destroyed by the multitude of backpackers that are aloud there. In an endeavor to protect these backpackers the NPWS is now destroying the island with government backing.

I have been there for both work and holidays well over 100 times in 30+ years and am 100% sure that NPWS are only second to the loggers in the amount of damage done.

They have blocked off a hell of a lot of the island to families with 4wds and are now directing all the traffic to the big 3 attractions. Central Station, Lake Mackenzie and Lake Wabby. This in turn is placing all of the "tourist traffic on the one road. their idea of fixing this was to bulldoze another full set of tracks through the island to "protect it".

As for the Dingo fence, why fence in the main people on the island that know how to behave around dingoes. Ever noticed that it is tourists and not residents that get attacked?

The NPWS really have no idea at all. I spoke to a ranger there last year about the closure of Middle rock to any fishing. I asked why they chose Middle rock. She told me they were told they had to close a certain amount of park to fishing and they decided there would be good. The was absolutely no hint of environmental study mentioned. Just that they had to appear to be doing some thing. Truth be told it is because of the backpackers. They don't want to have smelly fisherman near the Champagne pools now do they?

It really is an easy fix. Get rid of or limit the number of backpackers/hire vehicles. That will sort out the tracks and the huge numbers of people going there.

A simple note on Dingoes. They don't come any where near you if they are scared of you. Lock up your food and rubbish from the minute you land on the island. The dingoes will come around at night and if they find nothing to scavenge they won't come back. Especially if there is a hand full of pipies buzzing around their ears.