Gunner Asch wrote:
Stop culling dingoes, they're our vulnerable species
May 21, 2009


www.OzBackpackerTours.com.au

The dingo is Australian wildlife but it is the only wildlife not given
protection in this country.

Lyn Watson from the Dingo Discovery Centre outside of Melbourne
(``Foreign zoos pitch in to save the dingo'', May 13) should be
commended for foresight and wisdom in sending dingoes to international
countries in an attempt to save the gene pool, before the only dingoes
left are relics next to a thylacine in the museum.

When the approximate population of dingoes living on Fraser Island
number 140, it is nothing short of total irresponsibility and idiocy
when 56 of these dingoes have been killed since 2001 in a supposed
sanctuary location.
When there are such a small number of dingoes living on Fraser Island
and there have been so many dingoes killed, great concern for the
dwindling gene pool would be a fact for anyone remotely worried about
conservation.

A public that insists on abusing the privilege of this World Heritage
place should be forced to abide by stringent management and rules.

Other World Heritage destinations are kept pristine. A strictly
controlled population of humans is brought on and off the location.
First and foremost come the wildlife in any action plan.
World Heritage should possibly send in their own managers to Fraser
Island, as the legacy of killing 56 dingoes since 2001 is nothing short
of irresponsible.

In the last 12 months nine dingoes have been killed this includes pups.
Actions from the supposed carers, the rangers on Fraser Island, speak
louder than words. No responsible justification can be made for this
atrocity, the culling of so many dingoes and their pups highlights the
hypocrisy in the departments that are supposed to be protecting and
saving the dingo from extinction

Australia's legacy of dingo extermination is a national disgrace. The
latest killing of dingoes highlights a lack of responsible care and
knowledge of the species.

Dingoes are on our turf, they are slaughtered every day and have been
put on the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural
Resources' Red List of Threatened Species as ``vulnerable''.

Dingoes are our top land predator and keep harmony in the ecosystem.
Where dingoes are now extinct we have a major imbalance with pigs,
goats, cats and foxes.

Dingoes are here for a reason and are just as important as whales.

Nic Papalia president of the West Australian Dingo Association, Balga
(WA).


Whats this all about? Is it nationwide?

"Today, dingoes are legally classified as vermin and carry a bounty of
$20 AUS ($11 USD) a head. Rewards for dingoes caught on the inside
(southeast) of the fence can be upwards of $500 AUS."

("The fence" is 3488 miles. Australia has the world's longest fence.)

"The Dingo Fence or Dog Fence is a pest-exclusion fence that was built
in Australia during the 1880s and finished in 1885, to keep dingoes out
of the relatively fertile south-east part of the continent (where they
had largely been exterminated) and protect the sheep flocks of southern
Queensland."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dingo_Fence

They don't much care for kangaroos either, except as a tourist draw.
Regarded as just another pest.