Roman Mars

In 2001, a young boy was killed by dingoes while camping with his family.

And then, just as we were getting ready to publish this episode... We begin tonight with a tragedy on Gari.

A young Canadian tourist named Piper James was found dead on the beach in Gari.

The exact cause of her death is still unclear.

An initial assessment suggests that she drowned, but also that she had been bitten by dingoes before she died.

But several scientists have questioned that decision, arguing that previous dingo culls have not made the island safer.

There are somewhere between 70 and 200 dingoes left on Gari, and scientists argue that killing any of these animals reduces critical genetic diversity and makes the population much more vulnerable to extinction.

Dingoes have a fraught history in Australia.

They are an iconic, charismatic animal.

But they are also dangerous predators and have often been treated as a problem or a pest.

Dingoes have been fenced out and killed off to make way for human activity.

The aboriginal history in a place like Gauri shows that humans and dingoes can coexist, but coexistence in the modern world will require a complicated rebalancing of the relationship.

This is a difficult but necessary challenge, because these are beautiful creatures, and Australia is their only home.

99% Invisible was reported this week by Shirley Wong, produced and edited by Emmett Fitzgerald with help from Kelly Prime.

Mixed by Martine Gonzalez.

Music by Swan Rial and George Langford.

Fact-checking by Sona Avakian.

Special thanks to David Murakumthura, Madeline Shaw, co-author of the book Fleeced, and Ronald Breckwald, author of the book Dingo, the true story of Australia's most maligned native animal.

Kathy Tu is our executive producer.

Kurt Kolstad is the digital director.