Coroner: Canadian Teen Drowned After Dingo Attack
A Canadian backpacker whose body was discovered on a remote Australian island beach in January drowned after being attacked by dingoes, a Queensland coroner has confirmed.
According to the Coroner Court of Queensland, 19-year-old Piper James “died as a result of drowning in the setting of multiple injuries, due to, or as a consequence of a dingo attack” on K’gari, formerly known as Fraser Island. Earlier autopsy findings had already determined that she drowned and had both pre- and post-mortem bite marks. Those findings led investigators to believe she may have entered the water while trying to escape the animals. Chasing prey into the ocean is known to be a common hunting behavior among the island’s dingoes.
James was last seen around 5 a.m. on Jan. 19 heading to the beach alone. Her body was later found near the SS Maheno shipwreck, with as many as a dozen dingoes nearby.
Originally from Campbell River, British Columbia, James had been in Australia since October. She was traveling with a friend from the same hometown and had been working at a backpackers’ hostel on K’gari.
Her parents traveled to the island last month to bring their daughter’s remains back to Canada. In a Facebook post, her father said he wanted to “walk where she last walked, and try to feel the spirit of my baby girl in some way.”
The incident has renewed debate about how to manage the island’s small and genetically unique dingo population as tourism and human-wildlife encounters increase. Authorities have since euthanized eight dingoes believed to be part of the pack involved in the attack.
The decision has drawn criticism from James’ parents, who said their daughter loved animals, as well as from conservationists who warn the removals could threaten the long-term survival of the island’s dingo population. K’gari is home to about 150 residents and an estimated 200 dingoes.
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