After the death of Piper James, a 19-year-old tourist at Fraser Island, dingoes were found surrounding her dead body. The Australian government has sent out a message saying that the pack of dingoes surrounding her body are to be culled (selectively slaughtered) as they are a risk to public safety. James’ family has also started a GoFundMe to pay for the funeral, raising $20,000. 

While the dingoes found near James’ body are being culled, this isn’t the first time dingoes have attacked people. In July 2023, a 23-year-old woman was mauled and chased into the ocean by a pack of dingoes and was hospitalized soon after. In 2001, 9-year-old Clinton Gage was mauled and killed by a pack of dingoes, with his younger brother being attacked soon after.

The Australian government has yet to announce if they are killing all the dingoes on the island, but the pack surrounding James’ body have been culled officially. According to CNN, public outrage has erupted after a past event was remembered where 30 dingoes were “humanly destroyed”, the culling reminding them of that incident.

Water isn’t safe either, as a ten year old boy was dragged under the water at a beach on Fraser Island or K’Gari, with the sister of the boy being saved by two men, ending up with serious injuries to her arms and legs.

Though the attacks are just on a single island, other islands might develop the same cases in the future from the lack of domestication or general control over the animals.