Canadian backpacker Piper James died by drowning after dingo assault in Australia, coroner finds | EUROtoday

Canadian backpacker Piper James, 19, died “as a result of drowning” following a dingo assault in Australia, in response to the coroner’s findings.

Her physique was present in January on a seashore on Okay’gari, a World Heritage sand island off Queensland, near the Maheno shipwreck. Police mentioned her physique was surrounded by a pack of dingoes, prompting an investigation into the circumstances of her loss of life.

“Piper died as a result of drowning in the setting of multiple injuries, due to, or as a consequence of a dingo attack,” a spokesperson for the Queensland coroner’s court docket mentioned.

“The investigation into Piper’s death is ongoing, and no further information can be provided at this time.”

Earlier, Queensland authorities had euthanised eight of the ten dingoes that had surrounded James’s physique on Okay’gari – previously generally known as Fraser Island – following her loss of life. Officials had mentioned the animals had been a part of a pack believed to have surrounded her physique and had proven aggressive behaviour.

The transfer angered conventional homeowners and fearful wildlife consultants, whereas a preliminary post-mortem had discovered proof “consistent with drowning”, together with accidents per dingo bites.

“Pre-mortem dingo bite marks are not likely to have caused immediate death. There are extensive post-mortem dingo bite marks. There is no evidence that any other person was involved,” the preliminary post-mortem discovered.

Dingoes – generally known as thanks to the Indigenous Butchulla individuals – are sacred and particularly recognised in Okay’gari’s World Heritage itemizing. There are estimated to be round 70 to 200 dingoes on Okay’gari, and they’re protected underneath the regulation.

The teenager had been residing and dealing on Okay’gari for six weeks, employed as a housekeeper at a backpacker campsite alongside a detailed buddy from her hometown in British Columbia.

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“It breaks my heart we couldn’t be there to save her,” the teenager’s mom Angela James advised the Australian Broadcasting Corporationafter the coroner’s findings.

“It hurts my heart to think she was screaming for me,” her father Todd James mentioned.

“It’s hard to imagine what our baby went through.”

In the times after her loss of life, James’s mother and father remembered her as a “kind spirit” and an “empathetic” particular person.

“Our hearts are shattered as we share the tragic loss of our beautiful daughter Piper,” Todd James, the teenager’s father mentioned on social media.

“We will always remember her infectious laugh and her kind spirit. I admired her strength and determination to go after her dreams.”

Her mom, Angela James remembered her as “so special”. “She was just so precious. She was so empathetic. Always worried about other people,” she advised The Canadian Press.

Her daughter was relishing her time in Australia and had fallen in love with Okay’gari, she mentioned.

“She was very adventurous. She loved motocross. She loved camping, she loved swimming, and she loved surfing. She wanted to learn to surf,” she added.

Before travelling abroad, {the teenager} had spent two summers working with British Columbia’s wildfire providers, one thing her father mentioned she took immense delight in.

The Okay’fari island is residence to about 150 human inhabitants however attracts roughly 400,000 vacationers a 12 months. Queensland deputy premier Jarrod Bleijie mentioned James’s loss of life was horrific however refused to cap the variety of vacationers to the island. Activists have mentioned that overtourism is presumably one of many causes for aggressive dingo behaviour.

“Our thoughts and prayers and feelings are all for the family,” Mr Bleijie mentioned. “Fraser Island is the most amazing destination in the world and absolutely we’ll keep encouraging people to go there.”

He, nonetheless, mentioned that educating guests in regards to the risks posed by dingoes was essential and added that “we’re certainly not putting caps on tourists to go to Fraser Island”.

The final reported deadly dingo assault on Okay’gari was in 2001, when nine-year-old Clinton Gage fell close to a campsite and was attacked, prompting authorities to cull about 30 dingoes.