K'gari Traditional Owners frustrated at the management of dingoes intend to deliver a customary blessing of the area of the Queensland island where a young woman recently died, allegedly from a pack attack.
The Butchulla Aboriginal Corporation has reiterated a request that the Queensland Government implement a restriction cap on visitor numbers at specific times of the year, while not implementing a cull on its native dingo population on the land formerly known as Fraser Island.
Queensland Premier David Crisafulli has quickly refused to consider caps on lucrative tourists to the island, and has not ruled in or out controversial culls until an investigation into Canadian tourist Piper James's death is completed.
The body of Ms James was found surrounded by a pack of dingoes at the beach on the eastern side of the island in the early hours of Monday morning.
It is suspected she may have drowned to escape an attack, however police reportedly found her body bore defensive wounds.
An autopsy was carried out on Wednesday to determine how the 19-year-old died, with the Coroners Court saying later that day further scientific testing would be required to determine the exact cause of how the woman was killed, which will be made public in time.
Butchulla Aboriginal Corporation director, Christine Royan, said Traditional Owners planned to carry out ceremonial activities in the ensuing days to bless where the teenager had tragically died.
"We wanted young Piper to leave with footprints of good memories to come back another day," she told a media conference.
Ms Royan urged the public to refrain from blaming the wongari — the traditional Aboriginal name for dingoes — for ongoing attacks on the island.
She also stressed Ms James' death could well have been prevented.
"We have asked them to close camping grounds down, but they don't do anything - okay?" Ms Royan said.
"So, I do believe we could have made a difference."
Traditional Owners have claimed they have repeatedly warned the Queensland Government of the impending danger to the community as tourism on K'gari grows.
The Federal Court determined in 2014 that the Butchulla people had Native Title rights over the island.
Documented living on the island for more than 5000 years, Butchulla people have traditionally lived in harmony with the seasons, and the land and sea, to maintain a balance between their spiritual, social and family connections of their Country.
"We are actually going to fight anybody who wants to remove the wongari from K'gari - what we need to do is look at better management," Ms Royan said.
Approximately 200 dingoes — more than the island's permanent human population — roam around the World Heritage-listed area in which hundreds of high-risk or threatening incidents involving the apex predator have continued to escalate since the turn of the century.
"Everyone should enjoy K'gari, but they need to come when it is not the breeding season," Ms Royan said.
That would include preventing visitors coming from March to May when dingoes are most protective and territorial, and at their most aggressive.
Visitor numbers to the world's largest sand island are estimated to have grown to around 400,000 annually, their stay supported by limited accommodation which mostly includes camping grounds.
The government collects $59.80 per car for stays up to a month and up to $300 annually.
"The Premier, I don't even think we've had a visit to K'gari - it's about time 'we' listen to the real issues that are on K'gari," Ms Royan said.
A Department of Environment and Tourism management team arrived on K'gari on Wednesday to investigate claims of poor dingo management.
Ms Royan believed interactions with dingoes are on the rise, however Queensland governments continually fail to take responsibility for managing the problem.
"We don't want to have a meeting with Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service every week - we want action," she said.
The Butchulla Aboriginal Corporation have called to employ more First Nations rangers — who hold a better cultural understanding of the dogs — to operate management plans across the island.
The K'gari dingo population, recognised as one of the purest breeds of the canine in Australia, has inhabited the island for thousands of years and play a crucial role in its unique ecosystem.
"The solution is not to punish the animal," Ms Royan said.
Dingoes are protected across Queensland national parks, including on K'gari where the species are managed under a Fraser Island Conservation and Risk Management Strategy, enforced by the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service.
A 2021 independent review found the risk management strategy remained "fit for purpose" and was "comprehensively delivered".
However the Butchulla Aboriginal Corporation have disputed this nearly five years on, saying the management plans are outdated and tracking such high-risk animals with GPS collars was simply not working.
Instead, Traditional Owners have proposed to "incorporate our cultural processes and protocols".