A dingo that attacked a toddler at a popular campsite in Western Australia is to be caught and euthanised.
The Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions says the two-year-old was mauled on Friday night at Dales Campground in Karijini National Park in the state’s north.
The child was taken to Tom Price hospital for treatment to serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
It is understood he has now been discharged from hospital.
The Department said the safety of visitors was its number one priority.
DIngo warning signs in the Pilbara. PIC: Dept of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions
“Due to the aggressive behaviour of the dingo and the fact that it has remained at the campground following the incident, rangers are preparing to humanely destroy the animal as soon as a safe opportunity presents,” it said in a statement. “Dingo attacks are rare in Western Australian national parks and the department is not aware of any similar incident in this area.”
There is signage and information in place at Dales campground which warns visitors that dingoes may be present and it provides dingo safety advice.
Anyone who has a dingo encounter in a managed campground or park is urged to report details to park staff or a campground host.
While dingo attacks are relatively rare in Australia, they are certainly not unheard of. They are more commonly associated with Queensland’s Fraser island where, just last month, a camping area was closed due to heightened dingo activity.
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Wel it seems that the poor old dingo pays the penalties !
Hmm , how are they going to prove the Dingo that they catch is the Dingo in question that attacked the Child, I feel for the Child as my Gradnsonat 9 Y.O. age got attacked by a Neighbours Dog where he lives and even now more than 1 Year on is terrified of Dogs.
Last year during our stay we had a dingo rest at our campsite for several days and not at all did we feel unsafe or threatened but rather felt sorry for the animal as it was quite thin, it is unfortunately that the child got attacked and our hearts go our for the child and the family but the dingo is a wild dog and as stated there are plenty of signs making people aware of there presence, why not protect what we have instead of destroying it – just an ideas why not relocate instead?
Maybe the parents should be looking after the child. It’s a National park in a remote area where dingoes live. Why should the dingo pay?
Trying to rear sheep, whilst dingoes and other wild dogs, which interbreed, are a constant problem (from 1st hand experience over many years) teaches farmers that these wild animals are very very smart and do not give up easily. One method of distraction was to use darts to capture one of the pack, tie an already dead lamb to it and release. The rest of the pack would go into a frenzy to eat the prize at the same time as it was being taken from them, resulting in brawling amongst themselves, and more often than not, the dispersal of the pack. They quickly learned the “no go areas”.
Bruce MCG.