Killer dingoes to be shot
2001-05-01 10:38
Brisbane - Rangers were ordered Tuesday to shoot wild dogs at a popular island
resort after a young boy was mauled to death by the animals and his
younger brother was injured.
Queensland state Premier Peter Beattie said dingoes that scavenge
around campsites and settlements on Fraser Island would be shot.
Aborigine trackers were checking areas on Tuesday where dingoes have
menaced residents and tourists on the island off Australia's
northeast coast.
"They will be killed humanely, but they will be killed," Beattie
said.
Clinton Gage, 9, was killed on Monday when he was attacked by dingoes
near a camp site where his family was vacationing. His younger
brother, Dylan, 7, who was mauled by the animals, was released on
Tuesday from a local hospital.
Police shot two dingoes on Monday that were believed responsible for
the attack. There have been a string of dingo attacks on humans on
the island mainly involving children, but the killing was only the
second in Australia in modern history.
Many tourists opted to stay on Fraser Island despite the killing.
Police had urged people to leave or cancel visits.
Betty Gardner, a regular visitor, said she was happy to take her
grandchildren to the island despite the tragedy.
"We recognise that they (dingoes) are a wild animal," Gardner said.
"I feel quite safe there," she said.
Children and teachers at the boys' school were in shock after the
incident. Fred Hardman, principal of Pullenvale State School in
Brisbane, said six special counsellors were helping staff at the
school.
"The teachers are devastated, as am I. We're having to work
together as a tight team ... to work our way through this and steer
the children and the community through this crisis," he said.
Beattie said a cull of the 200 estimated dingoes on the island
would begin after a risk assessment study determined the extent of
the threat. He said dingoes in uninhabitable parts of the island
would be spared.
The incident was very damaging to Queensland's international
tourism reputation, Beattie said.
"That is why we have to move very quickly to resolve it," he said.
- Sapa-AP
- SAPA