Rangers on Queensland’s K’gari (Fraser Island) have been forced to euthanise another dingo after it was involved in several ‘high-risk’ incidents.
In the most recent, a woman who was standing alone on the beach was bitten on August 26.
Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) says the dingo had demonstrated increasingly significant high-risk behaviours since it was tagged in January 2023, including stealing food, persistently approaching people, stalking, circling, lunging, nipping and biting.
Before making the decision to capture and euthanise, rangers tried a number of alternative options including collaring the dingo in July, 2023, to enable rangers to better monitor its behaviour and movements.
A dingo on Fraser Island. PIC: Department of Environment and Science
And, in August 2023, rangers closed camping areas in the dingo’s preferred range to minimise the risks of increased habitation.
Rangers also asked visitors to avoid preparing or consuming food and sunbaking lying down at Eli Creek and lakeshores areas.
However, the QPWS says the dingo continued its pattern of negative interactions towards people with a series of threatening and high-risk interactions recorded involving children, adults, and rangers, including six high-risk interactions.
Many of these high-risk interactions involved a second tagged dingo. In recent weeks, rangers have stepped up patrols to monitor both animals, and rangers will continue to closely monitor the second dingo before making any further management decisions.
The QPWS says euthanising a high-risk dingo is a last resort, but this decision is in line with the Fraser Island Dingo Conservation and Risk Management Strategy, and part of QPWS’s commitment to ensure the safety of everyone who visits or lives on the island.
Visitors are reminded to Be dingo-safe! at all times and:
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I met a local who lived on Fraser Is. for many years.
In the earlier days there was an open dump site. The dingos scavenged this dump site and were well fed and bothered no one.
Years later the dump was closed and a more modern waste site was developed with skip bins and that.
Without this on going waste food source and ever since the dingoes became ever more hungry and aggressive.
Of course on top of that people stated feelin sorry for the skinny emaciated looking dogs around their camps and fed them for years resulting in their behaviour now.
Yes I remember that well said
Leave the dingo alone. Move the tourist away from them as their interaction with them is doing the dingo population a grave injustice. We have had dingos on our property and they run into the bush the moment they have seen us. The irresponsible tourist’s are responsible and if caught interacting with the dingoes should be removed and banned from the Island immediately.
People need to learn these Animals are Native Wold Animals and Fraser Island is their territory so do what thw Rangers say and act accordingly or simply Close the Island off to Tourists and Campers, ETC.
Just STOP FEEDING the Dingoes and all will be O.K. Our Australian Aborigional Peoples lived for thousands of years with the Dingo, quite sucessfully.
We are currently living in an isolated community in WA and there are 2 pure dingoes being kept as pets amongst dozens of other dogs. From what I’ve observed the dingoes have a far more predatory and cunning nature than other dogs.
They are not trusted by the community and fair warning is given to newcomers along with the plea “don’t feed the dingoes”.
Fraser Island
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People need to realise that that the dingo is possibly not an indigenous species of Australia.
The Dingo is Australia’s wild dog. It is an ancient breed of domestic dog that was introduced to Australia, probably by Asian seafarers, about 4,000 years ago. Its origins have been traced back to early breeds of domestic dogs in south east Asia(Jackson et al.