SINCE the frightening event on Fraser Island in which a toddler was snatched from his family's camper trailer by a dingo, calls have been made for the native species to be shot out.
Others have said that the island dingoes should be trapped and released on the mainland.
This is crazy. Should we also kill the island's snakes and what about sharks?
Moreover, what about the myriad things that might harm humans on the mainland.
As all farmers know, animals like horses and cattle kill people each year and there are no calls to get rid of them.
Dingoes are one of the reasons people go to the World Heritage-listed island which is also national park. Why would we have national parks if our aim is to get rid of any native species that we fear?
And what about all the other places in the world that have animals which can be dangerous? In the US, Canada and Africa, they manage to live with an array of animals like bears, lions, hippopotamus, tiger, wolves, crocodiles and elephants which are far more dangerous than dingoes.
Fraser's dingo problem has grown over the years in parallel with the increase in tourism.
Dingoes have always been something of a scavenger and fishermen and tourists have long been observed feeding them despite the state government's extensive education programs and big fines being in place.
A naturally curious animal, this surely would have decreased dingoes' natural fear of humans and encouraged them to be, in effect, camp followers. They trot along after people knowing they will soon enough get an easy feed.
Islanders say that problems most arise when young dingoes are ejected from the pack by dominant animals.
Like a group of teenagers in town with not enough parental oversight and a bit of time on their hands, they get into trouble.
Calls for their shooting follow years of other naive comments. One theory was that island dingoes were starving which was why they were skinny. Has anyone ever seen a fat predator? Hunting animals need to be sleek because they have to run down prey.
These poorly thought out reactions to this unfortunate event at Fraser probably point to human nature and one of its basest drivers - fear. We humans have a tendency to want to get rid of anything that scares us.
Of course, the biggest killer are people and they are behind the wheel of a car.
