Island has a problem with people, not dingoes: researcher
FRASER Island doesn't have a dingo problem - it has a human problem.
That's what Dr Bradley Smith, who has been researching the behaviour of the wild dogs, believes.
Dr Smith, who is with Central Queensland University, has worked in conjunction with American researchers who were studying the behaviour of wolves.
He compared the behaviour of dingoes to the behaviour of domestic dogs and wolves and found their behaviour was somewhere between the two.
While dingoes had many of the same characteristics as wolves - including quick cognition and the ability to problem-solve and adapt quickly - in some ways they were much like domestic dogs.
When it came to dingo management on Fraser Island, more had to be done to accommodate the dingoes rather than people who visited the island, Dr Smith said.
"Dingoes aren't dogs, that's a critical thing to note," he said.
While dingoes that were labelled "aggressive" were culled, Dr Smith, who spent three months studying the wild dogs on the island, said they were often simply exhibiting normal dingo behaviour.
"They should be allowed to be a dingo and do what dingoes do," he said.
