K’gari Dingo Strategic Research Program
The Fraser Island Dingo Strategic Research Program aims to develop a comprehensive program that is operational and delivers timely, transparent and relevant research findings collaboratively with external and internal stakeholders and Traditional Custodians the Butchulla people, to inform dingo management on K’gari and assist decision making.
The approach to developing the program undertaken by the department included:
- identification of priority research areas based on recommendations from independent scientific review
- development of a research program that is consistent with the objectives and approaches contained in the Fraser Island Dingo Conservation and Risk Management Strategy (the Strategy), including a priority research table.
- development of a Fraser Island Dingo Research Grant Program to enable allocation of grant funding ($60k) to institutions undertaking dingo research.
The dingo research program is ongoing with outcomes from priority research areas informing best-practice operational and strategic management of the K’gari dingo population and the human-wildlife interface.
Fraser Island Dingo Research Grant Program 2014 - Outcomes
- The grant program was undertaken in 2014 and coordinated by the former Department of Science, Information Technology and Innovation with assistance from the former Environmental Protection Agency.
- Seven applications were received and reviewed by an assessment panel with four successful research projects confirmed and endorsed (as detailed below). The program was completed in 2016.
| Funding | Research theme(s) | Project details |
|---|---|---|
Dingo Conservation and Ecology | A Dingo Scat DNA-Mark-Recapture Monitoring Program to Calculate Population Size. Dr Gabriel Conroy, University of the Sunshine Coast. This pilot study research provided an estimate of the K’gari dingo population size at the time. The research also delivered a framework to monitor trends in population size, using scientifically rigorous methodology. The integration of volunteer input for the collection of scat samples made for an innovative, efficient, and publicly inclusive solution to source scat samples, while the implementation of a DNA-mark-recapture program represented current best practice. Conroy G, Ogbourne S, Lamont RW, Bridges L (2016). A Pilot Dingo Scat DNA Mark-Recapture Program to Estimate Population Size: Final report. University of the Sunshine Coast. | $15,000 |
Human Management and Education | Using Neuroscience and Social Media Listening to Develop a Better Strategy for Human-Dingo Interaction. Prof. Gayle Kerr, Queensland University of Technology. This research provided a detailed literature review presenting new insights on neuroscience and social media listening research, with analysis of this in relation to K’gari dingo management. The neuroscience review presented a realistic appraisal of its application to understanding how island visitors think about dingoes to better inform communication strategies. Social media listening explored the potential to benchmark sentiment around human-dingo interaction, and the effects of media reporting on social media comment. | $4,000 |
1. Dingo Conservation and Ecology | Kickstart: A Collaborative Package of Dingo Research Projects. Dr Ben Allen et. al., The University of Queensland. The project brought together a large number of existing researchers with experience in management of dingoes and dingo-human interactions on K’gari. The project addressed all three Research Priority Areas and six of the research outcomes under the Strategic Research Program, via a range of subject areas, including:
Appleby R, Mackie J, Smith B, Bernede L, Jones D (2018). Human-dingo interactions on Fraser Island: an analysis of serious incident reports. Australian Mammalogy 40:146-156. Appleby R, Smith B, Bernede L, Jones D (2017). Utilising aversive conditioning to manage the behaviour of K’gari (Fraser Island) dingoes (Canis dingo). Pacific Conservation Biology 23:335-358. Appleby R, Smith B, Mackie J, Bernede L, Jones D (2017). Preliminary observations of dingo responses to assumed aversive stimuli. Pacific Conservation Biology 23:295-301. Baxter G, Davies N (2014). Movements of dingoes on K’gari-Fraser Island: implications for management. Symposium of the Australasian Wildlife Management Society, Brisbane, Australia, December 2014. Behrendorff L, Leung LK-P, McKinnon A, Hanger J, Belonje G, Tapply J, Jones D, Allen BL (2016). Insects for breakfast and whales for dinner: the diet and body condition of dingoes on Fraser Island (K’gari). Scientific Reports 6:23469. White NJ (2021). Spatio-temporal ecology of dangerous wildlife in a conservation setting, and implications for management of human-wildlife interactions: wongari (dingoes - Canis dingo) on K'gari (Fraser Island), Queensland, Australia. PhD Thesis, The University of Queensland. | $16,000 |
1. Dingo Behaviour Management | The Iconic Dingo: Valuing their Future on K'gari-Fraser Island. Dr Clare Archer-Lean, University of the Sunshine Coast. This research provided insight into socio-cultural values that underpin planning for strategic approaches to communications regarding dingo and dingo-human interaction. The research interpreted existing data and gathered new data on the way various stakeholders and interests value and expect to interact with dingoes. The project made best practice recommendations on how to manage those expectations. Known problematic sites of interactions between people and dingoes were identified to locate points of conflict in relation to key dingo habitat and visitor management sites. Archer-Lean C, Wardell-Johnson A, Carter J, Khattab U, Mahoney I (2016). The Iconic Dingoes of K’gari—Fraser Island | $24,527 |
Genetic Health and Status of K’gari Wongari (Fraser Island Dingoes) Collaborative Research Program 2020 - Outcomes
- This collaborative research program was undertaken in 2020 and co-ordinated by the University of Southern Queensland (USQ).
- The program was funded by a grant ($77k) provided by the former Department of Environment and Science (DES) to USQ and was completed in 2022.
- Collaborators included QPWS (DES), USQ, the Butchulla People (traditional custodians of K’gari), the University of Cape Town, Nelson Mandela University, the University of New England, the University of Melbourne, the University of New South Wales, the University of the Sunshine Coast, NSW Department of Primary Industries, Zoological Genetics and Biosecurity Queensland.
- This funded research aimed to assess the genetic health and status of the K’gari dingo population using a participatory, independent approach centred on community workshops to identify research priorities, expert workshops to identify appropriate research methods, then the commissioning of independent scientific research to address community priorities in accordance with the experts’ suggested methods.
- The overall aim of the project was to provide managers with robust and policy-ready information on the genetic health and status of the K’gari dingo population – information that also met community expectations and was widely supported by subject matter experts.
- Publications resulting from this research include:
- Allen BL (2023). Genetic health and status of K’gari wongari (Fraser Island dingoes): Project summary document for policy-makers and managers. University of Southern Queensland.
- Allen BL & Ross H (2024). Implementing a novel process for solving contentious conservation problems: The genetic status of K’gari wongari (Fraser Island Dingoes) as a case study. Ecological Management and Restoration 25(3):168-176.
- Miller SM, Behrendorff L, Allen BA, Andrew RL et al. (2024). Isolation, small population size, and management influence inbreeding and reduced genetic variation in K’gari dingoes. Conservation Genetics 25:955-971.
Evaluation and review
Periodic internal and independent evaluation and review of the Strategy and associated action planning and strategic research has been implemented in partnership with other agencies and including Traditional Custodians the Butchulla people. In 2020 an independent expert panel Review of the Implementation Plan for the K’gari wongari (Fraser Island dingo) Conservation and Risk Management Strategy was undertaken by the Office of the Queensland Chief Scientist. The Queensland Government published a response to the review, and planning is currently underway for a full review of the Strategy.
To ensure the Strategy delivered tangible operational outcomes, the 2014 Grant Program and associated research objectives were included in the Implementation Plan review.