Beattie orders rangers to keep shooting dingoes

[Guest guest]

Beattie orders rangers to keep shooting dingoes

Matthew Franklin and Brian Williams

(The Courier Mail - Queensland, Australia)

07may01

 

PARK rangers should shoot any Fraser Island dingo that threatened humans

despite the end of an approved dingo cull, Premier Peter Beattie said

yesterday.

 

Mr Beattie said he expected park rangers on the island to use their

initiative to deal with dangerous animals after the tragic death of Clinton

Gage, 9, last week.

 

He said rangers had destroyed 28 dingoes under a targeted kill of dogs that

frequented camp grounds and parks but that they should kill any other dog

that posed a threat to humans despite a heavy backlash against the cull.

 

Federal Environment Minister Robert Hill yesterday accused Mr Beattie of

failing to properly address dingo management despite producing a draft

management plan two years ago.

 

" It seems the difficult issues were put to one side, " Senator Hill said.

" We've now had a tragic event and it's brought a fairly dramatic response. "

 

Mr Beattie said he was unbowed by continuing criticism from

environmentalists over the cull, saying many appeared to rate the lives of

dingoes as more valuable than the lives of children.

 

When told that dingoes were still present in camping grounds this weekend,

Mr Beattie said park rangers should act on their own intitiative.

 

" If there is a dingo found that is a risk to people I expect parks and

wildlife people to put it down now, " Mr Beattie said. " I expect them to put

it down without telephoning me. That is their job. "

 

Mr Beattie said the Government was now continuing with a risk-analysis study

aimed at determining whether more dingoes should be culled or whether other

steps were necessary, such as fencing off of camping areas on Fraser Island.

 

Senator Hill said he would not quarrel with the Queensland Government taking

action to boost public safety, but he was bemused by the decision to begin

the cull before conducting a risk assessment.

 

" I was puzzled and remain puzzled, bemused in fact, about the notion of

destroy the animals and then conduct your risk assessment, " he said.

 

" I would have thought it was logical to conduct your risk assessment and

then act upon it, but the Queensland Government went in the other

direction. "

 

Fraser Island Defenders Organisation secretary Billie Watts said a lack of

funds was the core issue behind the failure of dingo management.

 

She said Fraser had been left to subsist on access fees which had not been

increased for years and the Environmental Protection Agency and Parks and

Wildlife Service had failed to deliver their share of consolidated revenue

to help manage the island.

 

She said the Federal Government also had to share the blame. To date Fraser

had only received 1.28 per cent of Federal Government 2000-2001 allocations

for World Heritage sites.

 

Ms Watts said it was wrong large numbers of dingoes were being shot out of

hand . . . " if a collie savaged you, you wouldn't have every dog killed in

the street " .