A number of recent dingo attacks on Queensland’s Fraser Island has sparked a fair bit of outcry … but so too has the continued poor behaviour of tourists around the wild animals.
The Department of Environment and Science (DES) has just fined to two women for interacting with dingoes (wongari), and then posting photos on social media.
A 29-year-old New South Wales woman and a 25-year-old Queensland woman each received a $2,300 Penalty Infringement Notice (PIN) following an investigation by Compliance Manager Mike Devery said both women were reported to the department by members of the public who had seen the content online.
“Both women have made an extremely dangerous decision to interact with wongari and that’s why they have been fined,” Mr Devery said.
This woman from NSW posed with dingo pups .. and was heavily fined for her actions. PIC: Queensland DES
“The Queensland woman could have been bitten by the wongari, which was clearly exhibiting dominance-testing behaviour.
He stressed that dingoes are wild animals and need to be treated as such.
Mr Devery said the New South Wales woman had ‘recklessly chosen to approach very closely to three sleeping wongari pups, and she was lucky the mother of the pups wasn’t nearby’.
“Wongari are known for defending their packs and their pups, and it is unbelievable that people would endanger their wellbeing like this,” he said. “Deliberately interacting with wongari is irresponsible, and rangers from the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) will not tolerate it.
Senior Ranger Linda Behrendorff said most of Fraser Island was bushland, giving the dingoes plenty of territory to live, hunt and raise their pups.
“Unfortunately, wongari that venture near the public areas can become quickly habituated, and one interaction can be the start of wongari becoming habituated, because they lose their natural wariness of people,” she said. “Residents and visitors to the island cannot treat wongari as cute, hungry or something to play with, because the wongari will start to approach people for food, and that can put wongari and people at risk.”
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In their natural environment healthy dingoes are a beautiful animal, but we must realise that they are also a predator. Having lived and holidayed in the outback we very quickly learnt that we needed to treat them with respect. So too should the visitors to this island and/or any other places where dingoes are.
This is posted in Karajini. NT certainly gets to the heart of the matter,
For clarification, Karajini is in Western Australia, not the NorthernmTerritory
Wongari on K’Gari Island.
Where can we obtain a guide to the 300-plus remaining Indigenous fellow Australian’s languages so that we do not make mistakes like calling a Dingo a Dingo?
Silly comment.
Nothing has ever been put in writing “fact”
Yes, they are called DINGO’S and they live on FRAZER ISLAND there, fixed it for you.
Spot on. This is getting out of hand. I’ll have to go back to school so I can make sense of some of these words getting thrown around these days. It seems like I’m living in another country with all the name changes taking place lately.
It’s not a mistake, dingo is the original correct name like Ayers Rock and Frazer Island.
languages change. Romans spoke Latin, they don’t now. English is increasing worldwide
Here we go again, stupid is, stupid does and the Dingo’s, nature lovers and tourism will pay the price. The next time a dingo has to be put down because of this sort of behaviour these two women should have to sit in and be made to watch.
I hope they are actually made to pay the fine.
could NOT HAVE SAID IT ANY BETTER. HOPE WE HEAR THE RESULTS. (EG) THEY PAID THE FINE..
They breed amongst us, and I don’t mean the Dingoes
Spot on
The ranger is dead right, that’s why I want Frazer Island shut to tourists. The dingo’s and the other islands wildlife were there first, they are entitiled to quiet enjoyment of their habitat, humans have no right to be there or to interact with them, Get rid of the humans and the attacks go away.
Pretty close to my own ideas, and I was present at the Rock in 1980 when things suddenly went haywire. Will never ever entertain the idea of a visit to a similar environment up at Fraser for obvious reasons. No need for any govt to make a patsy out of an innocent tourist for their own lack of positive involvement.
I keep away from dingo’s, crocks, sharks, snakes and anything a can of mortine won’t kill.
What? the STUPID TOURIST, is made a Patsy, !!! , NO WAY, more education should got out about these Beautiful Animals, they are NOT an Human Pet Animal, they are just Beautiful Wild Creatuers and we should respect that.
You would be shutting down most of the outback if you took that line.
Dingoes are very widespread and are becoming much more prevalent around areas humans visit.
For instance, I have travelled the Nullabor many times and stayed in the Nullabor Roadhouse van park on most trips, but in more recent trips there have been Dingoes hanging around the Roadhouse and the proprietors have erected signs not to encourage them by any interaction particularly feeding them.
I don’t think the solution is to ban people or euthanasia the dingo. Let nature take it’s course and if people are stupid enough to do stupid things around a dangerous wild animal then they may be a candidate for a Daewin award and the world might get rid of some of it’s stupidity.
Or get rid of the Dingoes and the attacks go away!!!! Isolate them on parts of the Island which is just for them
I totally agree with this. One of the 4 dingos that attacked the woman jogging has already be euthanised! I have heard that there are over 500,000 tourists visit every year. This number should absolutely be reduced. However I’d like to see it dropped. I also noted that all of the blame should not just rest with the tourists, but some residents as well.
500k tourists ….try over 1m/year according to local tour operators, Fraser Island is nothing more than a cash cow, the critical link to mass tourism is obtaining “ world heritage listing “ that’d critical to conning the crowds…nothing more…
The fines these idiots received was far to small.
Just let nature and Darwin take their course.
Like the $1200 fine the camper who lit the illegal camp fire, departed and left the fire burning a few years ago that burned 60% of the island and cost taxpayers $27m attempting to extinguish the fire. I live at Rainbow Beach and endured smoke 24/7 for 6 weeks. What a joke, Frasier Island is nothing more than a cash cow…
I’m glad the wongari have rangers watching out for their wellbeing as tourists can be naive or just plain idiots for the sake of looking cool on their social media. I just wish there was as much care taken of our other native animals too.
Wongari? Oh, you mean dingo!
N/P, Shot all the Brumby’s,,they have to eat sometime, no enough wallabies on the Island,, so slow humans will be next,,,just saying…
The correct name is DINGO not WONGARI do not change the name.
BTW i have stayed at kingfisher bay resort and seen a mother dingo lead her pups into the dining room to be fed by diners from their tables.. Staff seemed to think it was normal and acceptable .No one was attacked and the dingo was not agressive.
Dingoes also get a feed at orchid beach from the waste of the shop there .
Dingoes interbred for many years with dogs that came with workers etc during logging and sandmining enterprises .
Maybe if Dingoes had a regular food supply they would be less inclined to be agressive .
Maybe someone should remind everyone of the poor little boy who was mauled to death on Fraser around 20yrs ago. It was horrific.
Yes (Dingos) wongari area very prtective of their Young / territory /& Food.\, I am 83 Y.O. grew up up the Land and new the Wongari ,well, and respected them well, and to this Day, rember a Pack chasing me even though I was on Horse Back, because I had come Too, Close to them feeding on the remains of one of our Calves.
They were keeping up with the Horse, in Speed, and did not let up until I got to my Rifle and discharged a Round over their Heads.
I am certainly, glad I had not fallen off my Horse or just maybe I would not be here to write this short Story abiut the Worangi.
It’s the Dingo’s habitat and we are very privileged to be able to visit their environment and should behave accordingly. Otherwise that privilege maybe rightly removed.
With most people moving off the land into urban towns, common sense is disappearing. What starts out as innocent contact with the wild, quite often results with someone getting hurt. We have been killing sharks for at least 70 yrs, Why? Well the common comment is if it hurts us it has to be put down. Yes this even comes from the mouth of so called christians.
So just to be clear there is no longer Dingoes on Fraser Island anymore but wongari on K’gari? I guess I’ll soon be learning a whole new language. 🙂