Rangers at Kakadu National Park have shot dead three wild dogs after a dingo tried to drag a teenager from her sleeping bag.
The Northern Territory News reports that Rebecca Robinson, 13, of Benalla, Victoria, woke to find the dingo tearing at her sleeping bag at the Aurora Kakadu Lodge. “I could feel someone pulling me,” she said. “I woke up and there was a dingo there chewing at my sleeping bag. It was small, yellowy colour. I could not see it that much, but I saw its face.”
Rebecca said she screamed and the dingo fled. The teenager had been sleeping with a friend on a under the awning of her parents’ caravan when the dingo attacked. It was the fourth attack by dingoes on campers at the Aurora Kakadu Lodge at Jabiru this season.
According to media reports, campers have previously reported dingoes ripping open tents and pulling out bedding, but the latest attack was the first on a human. Jabiru police officer in charge, Senior Sergeant Roger Ilett, said the matter was being dealt with by patrolling Kakadu rangers.
Parks Australia said the hunt would continue to ensure the safety of campers. West Arnhem Shire Council has also been talking to a ‘professional shooter’ about a cull on the outskirts of Jabiru. It is expected that 10-20 feral dogs will be destroyed.
