A Canadian backpacker whose body was found on a remote Australian island beach in January drowned after being attacked by dingoes, a Queensland coroner has confirmed. Piper James, 19, "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 Fraser Island, the Coroner Court of Queensland said Friday. Earlier autopsy findings indicated she had drowned and suffered both pre- and post-mortem bite marks, fueling speculation she may have entered the water trying to escape the animals, the Guardian reports. Chasing prey into the ocean is a common hunting strategy among the island's dingoes, reports the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
She was last seen around 5am on Jan. 19 heading to the beach alone; her body was discovered near the SS Maheno shipwreck, surrounded by up to a dozen dingoes. James, who was from Campbell River, British Columbia, had been in Australia since October, traveling with a friend from the same town, and had been working in a backpackers' hostel on the island, the CBC reports. Her parents visited K'gari last month to bring their daughter's remains back to Canada. Her father said on Facebook that he wanted to "walk where she last walked, and try to feel the spirit of my baby girl in some way."
Her death has intensified debate over how to manage K'gari's small, genetically distinct dingo population amid rising human-wildlife encounters and booming tourism. Eight dingoes from the pack linked to the incident have since been killed, a move criticized by James' parents, who say their daughter loved animals, and by conservationists who warn the population could be pushed toward extinction on the island, which is home to around 150 people and 200 dingoes.
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