Dingo on K’gari (Fraser Island). Source: Julia Garcia, Wikimedia Commons
A five-year old boy has been attacked by a dingo near the Ocean Lake camping area on the North-eastern side of K’gari (Fraser Island).
The boy was playing on the beach when the dingo attacked, biting him on his arm, buttocks, and head. Fortunately, the boy’s parents were nearby, and his father was able to chase the dingo away before the situation got any worse.
RACQ LifeFlight Rescue said, “the child sustained multiple minor bites before his father managed to get the dingo off him.”
The child was flown to the Hervey Bay airport on a rescue helicopter, accompanied by his mother. From there, he was taken by ambulance to Hervey Bay Hospital in a stable condition.
While dingo attacks most often happen when the animals are provoked, park rangers have said that the boy did not provoke the dingo and they are currently working to identify the animal involved.
Dingo attacks are rare, however, attacks on children are more common, particularly in popular tourist locations like K’gari. This is because children are smaller and more vulnerable, and dingoes may feel less threatened by them. Last year, after several children were attacked, the Queensland Government spent $2 million on a fence around Orchid Beach on K’gari’s Northeast.
After this most recent attack, Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service is reminding those visiting K’gari to always keep a close eye on children.
It is an offence to feed or interact with dingoes on K’gari, as this can disrupt dingoes’ natural feeding habits and make them more aggressive towards people. Feeding dingoes can make them less cautious around people and can make them associate humans with food. This can lead to potential attacks, especially on small children.
In 2020, strict new laws were put in place in K’gari which introduced fines for people feeding dingoes.
