Caylah Chiplin has spent most Christmas holidays since she was a child visiting the coastal village of Orchid Beach, on the northern stretch of Queensland's heritage listed K'gari (Fraser Island).
But this year, the young mum says she will enjoy the annual tradition without "having to fret" for her family's safety.
The Queensland government has finished construction of a 7-kilometre-long dingo – or wongari — fence that wraps around the Orchid Beach township, putting an end to the days when the wild animals roamed freely in the community.
"I've got two kids, the youngest is three, the other one is four turning five … it just sort of gives a bit more peace of mind for people who do have young children," Ms Chiplin said.
"It's going to be nice to not have to fret too much if they go for a walk onto the front patio."
Ms Chiplin, now 30, said she'd had a few run-ins with dingoes over her years spent at Orchid Beach.
"Usually, they sneak up on you and you don't know they're there until they are right on top of you," she said.
"You'll be down on the beach having a fish or standing near the car, and you won't notice there is a dingo at the top of the dunes.
"With the children right there, you've got to be onto it."
Stopping dingo and human interactions
In early 2021, a young boy was treated for minor injuries after being bitten in an incident involving two dingoes at Orchid Beach.
Queensland Parks and Wildlife dingo ranger Megan Wilson said the dingo population had continued to grow at the top end of the island.
"Over the past few years, we have lost a little bit of pack stability, so we have had a lot of packs breeding," Ms Wilson said.
"It is fantastic to see the population growing, but that does also mean that [there is a] higher chance of an interaction [with humans].
"There's been a number of interactions, and we would like to see those numbers come down."
Ms Wilson said the fence would help keep both humans and dingoes safe.
"The dingo — or the wongari — here on K'gari are a wild animal, so it's better for them to be in a more natural environment and learning to find food on their own," she said.
"[The fence allows dingoes to] use those normal hunting instincts, to have a healthy and stable population, as well as keeping visitors and residents to the island safe."
End of an era for Orchid Beach
Orchid Beach is the largest village on K'gari, dating back to 1963 when its land was set aside for the construction of a resort that was never realised.
As a township that long had dingoes wandering freely through its front yards, Ms Wilson said the fence would be a transition for long-term residents.
"We are in a natural environment and some of the people have gotten used to having the dingoes walk through their yard, which is a nice thing to see," she said.
"But it really comes down to looking after the safety of the people in the community – the residents, the visitors, the dingoes themselves – so after community consultation, most [people] seem to be on board.
"We've still got the whole rest of the island to see [dingoes] in their natural habitat — the township is a very small percentage of the whole island and so this is a very small part of the area that they roam."
A tourism drawcard
Orchid Beach was the last community on the island to receive dingo fencing, and at 7km, it is also the largest stretch of fence line on the heritage-listed island.
Most of the state government's $2 million budget for dingo fencing on K'gari was allocated to the project at Orchid Beach, with some of the money also used to finishing fencing around other major centres like Eurong, Happy Valley and King Fisher.
While based in Brisbane, Ms Chiplin rents her Orchid Beach holiday home out during the year.
"I know a family who will go to stay at Happy Valley because they've got young kids and it's fenced, so they feel safer there," she said.
"I think it will also help rent wise — people in the future will be happy to book at Orchid Beach.
"It will be the same Orchid Beach, just a little bit safer."
With construction complete, rangers are now in the process of relocating all dingoes inside the fence and hope to finish by the end of the month.
"A reminder to any visitors or residents in the next little while … if you do see a dingo inside the fence, just call the dingo hotline (07 4127 9150) and let the rangers know," said Ms Wilson.
