The humble umbrella could be the best method of defence against a dingo encounter on Fraser Island, a Brisbane researcher says.
Griffith University's Rob Appleby was part of a research group commissioned to look at ways to reduce the risk to human safety posed by dingoes living on the sand island.
The research paper, published in CSIRO's Pacific Conservation Biology, found an American study that trialled"rapidly" opening an umbrella in front of charging bears was "sufficient to cause them to halt or retreat".
Mr Appleby said the study offered an idea that could contribute to existing methods dingo management strategies such as deterrent fencing, warning signage and regulations against feeding.
"(The umbrella) seemed to initially scare the bear but them some of the bears actually didn't stay scared and that initial fear dissipated," he said.
"The additional benefit with the dingo is the umbrella opens and can serve as a shield.
"One of the big concerns is that dingoes tend to come in to try and nip your heels or nip your legs and this could be a method to basically keep them at bay without necessarily cause them any harm."
While he stressed using an umbrella as a deterrent was "literally just an idea", he said it could replace Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service's existing recommendation to carry a stick for self-defence.
"We haven't experimented with it, we haven't done any trials but from a logical point of view it makes a lot of sense," he said.
"They have some places where they have some sticks in bins and people can collect them when they leave fenced areas and put them back when they come back.
"This is really an extension of that idea and putting something in the hands of people that might be a little bit more effective.
"It wouldn't cause any harm and is the kind of thing that someone could easily carry and might even carry with them anyway."
The paper suggested umbrellas could be "enhanced with other potentially aversive light and sound stimuli".
"What we would love to do is some tests, perhaps looking first of all at captive dingo responses to umbrellas and opening and closing them rapidly and seeing how they respond," Mr Appleby said.
"(See) if they habituate and if over time they get used to that and they don't respond with avoidance or escape anymore.
"If we get some good results then it might be the kind of thing we could start recommending more widely."
Mr Appleby said while it was "pretty rare" for a serious incident to occur, the best way to avoid injury was to be as "prepared as possible".
"We are trying to find something people can easily carry with them and if they were in the very unlikely circumstance they were attacked by a dingo ... they would have something on hand which they could use to thwart that attack," he said.
"If animals are easily able to associate their behaviour or response with avoiding something like a shock or stimulus they don't like, generally that has been quite successful.
"It is about finding the balance between something that works as a deterrent but also something that doesn't have a long-term impact on the animals."
