Fraser Coast mayor dismisses dingo cull and calls for children to be restricted on K’gari after teenager’s death

The death of a backpacker found surrounded by dingoes has thrown the tourist island into the spotlight.

Fraser Coast Mayor George Seymour has called for children to be banned from camping on K’gari after 19-year-old Piper James was found dead and surrounded by dingoes on the island.

The mayor rejected calls to cull dingoes or ban tourists from the island altogether, despite concerns growing.

Autopsy results for the Canadian teen remain inconclusive thus far, with authorities still uncertain whether she drowned or was attacked by dingoes.

On Sunrise on Thursday, Seymour said neither culling nor closing the island was necessary, arguing the preservation K’gari’s wilderness is essential.

“K’gari is a natural place where people go to experience the wilderness. The dingoes are an essential part of that,” Seymour said.

“We need to make sure that people are as safe as possible there, but ultimately in the end, a wilderness does involve risks, and the dingoes are an essential part of K’gari, and they shouldn’t be culled”.

“We need, as an Australian society, to have wildernesses where people can immerse themselves in nature. And with that comes risks,” Seymour said.

Fraser Coast Mayor George Seymour has called for children to be banned from camping on K’gari.Fraser Coast Mayor George Seymour has called for children to be banned from camping on K’gari. Credit: Sunrise

 

Seymour did acknowledge an increase in dingo activity over recent years.

“Over the past four or five years, we have seen an increase in the severity and the frequency of dingo attacks,” he said.

“This has mostly been against young children eight and under. That’s why I’ve become more of the view that young children shouldn’t be camping over there outside of fenced areas.”

He called on the state government to seriously consider banning children under eight from camping in unfenced areas of the island, where he said most attacks have occurred.

“The government advice is that at all times children should be in arm’s length of their parents or caregivers while they’re over there, which does not make for a great camping experience,” Seymour said.

Seymour noted that while dingo attacks had increased, other dangers on the island had claimed more lives, including car accidents, drownings, and shark attacks.

There have been no confirmed dingo-related deaths on the island since 2001.