133 ESSAY Fraser Island, known as K’gari to its Butchulla custodians, is the biggest sand island in the world, a place where massive trees grow in dense rainforest, sand dunes hold freshwater lakes that reflect the sky, and water so clear it is invisible runs in streams to the sea. Archaeological evidence demonstrates that Aboriginal people have lived on K’gari and around the nearby Cooloola coast for at least five thousand years. 1 In the nineteenth century thousands of people gathered on Kgari’s eastern beach for the Feast of the Tailor Fish in late winter. 2 Early nineteenth century European observers noted the close relationship between Aboriginal inhabitants of K’gari and their dingoes. 3 Settlers arrived in Coloola from the 1840s but colonial control over the region was tenuous. 4 Now about 200 people live permanently on K’gari, and the island is home to an estimated 76–171 dingoes living in nineteen family groups. 5 Approximately 400,000 tourists visit every year. Most of the island is a World Heritage listed national park managed by the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS). The Fraser Island Dingo Conservation and Risk Management Strategy (FIDCRMS), implemented by QPWS, aims to ensure that these visitors have a wildlife experience by conserving a sustainable wild dingo population while minimising risks to human safety and dingo welfare. In May 2015 I met a curious, lithe, wide-headed, narrow-rumped ten-month-old dingo on K’gari’s eastern beach. We had a brief and civil encounter before he went on his way. Over the ensuing months he had many interactions with people. On 16 August 2015, after his second report for nipping a person, he was killed by QPWS staff. 6 His brother – who Incessant: dingoes and waves of contact on K’gari ROWENA LENNOX