Rangers yet to decide whether to destroy ‘high risk’ dingo responsible for K’gari attack
July 18, 2023
By Andrew Messenger
Rangers in Queensland have yet to decide whether to destroy a “high risk” dingo that attacked a woman on K’gari on Monday, amid reports from locals that the animals’ behaviour has changed.
The 24-year-old was flown to Hervey Bay hospital with numerous bites after being attacked by at least three dingoes while jogging on the beach on Monday.
The animals chased her into the water before two men in a four-wheel-drive rushed to her aid.
Queensland’s environment minister, Leanne Linard, confirmed on Tuesday that one dingo involved had previously been identified as a “high risk” animal and was being monitored after an earlier attack.
Linard will travel to K’gari on Wednesday to receive an update on the situation.
The state government has only destroyed one dingo in the last four years, she said, killing an animal last month that had been responsible for several incidents.
“That’s obviously a consideration that will be made by rangers in conjunction with traditional owners,” she said.
“It is a significant step to euthanise a dingo.”
A senior ranger on Monday rejected the idea of a wider cull.
Linard said there is no “clear line” and no state government protocol governing when to kill an individual animal.
She was particularly concerned that the animals weren’t frightened away by the intervention of other humans.
The attack is the latest of several concerning encounters between humans and dingoes, known locally as wongari.
The Fraser Coast Regional council mayor George Seymour said he believed there had been more attacks in the past two years than the previous decade at the popular tourist spot, formerly known as Fraser Island.
“Something different is happening,” he told ABC radio on Tuesday, complaining of the frequency of interactions and behaviour of the animals.
He said the situation was “very, very concerning because it’s extremely terrifying to be attacked by wildlife.”
Seymour said it was too early to consider limiting visitor numbers and wanted to see more research into what was behind the dingoes’ behaviour.
He believed the state government was doing a good job of promoting safety.
“The state government has done everything it can, people get bored of (the) messaging. You hear it so much, about being dingo safe,” he said.
“There’s kilometres and kilometres of fencing and the attacks aren’t happening behind the fencing.”
The Queensland government committed to a series of “risk intervention actions” after a review of K’gari’s dingo management strategy announced in 2019.
It followed three serious dingo interactions earlier that year.
The state opposition leader, David Crisafulli, questioned whether the recommendations had been followed.
“So what’s happened since then, have the recommendations from that report been implemented? Are there enough rangers on the ground to do the job?” he told reporters.
“Or is it another report that was commissioned and then put on a shelf after relieving the pressure of the issues of the day?”
Linard said all 39 of the recommendations had been implemented or were in the process of implementation.
Rangers have previously attributed a rise in attacks to increasing numbers of people defying restrictions to feed and interact with the animals, which are estimated to number between 100 and 200 on the island.
“This creates animals who are not wary of people and they are brazenly going up to adults and children and having inappropriate interactions with them,” ranger Danielle Mansfield said after a recent attack.
Visitors are advised to stay close to children, walk in groups and not to feed the dingoes or run in their presence.
Rangers have also rejected calls to cull the dingo population. Darren Blake from the Butchulla Aboriginal Corporation, which represents the traditional owners of K’gari, said it was important visitors understood that wongari were wild animals.
“They’re not puppy dogs, they’re wild apex predators, give them that respect,” he told ABC radio.
“My heart goes out to the young lady, and hopefully this hits home for everybody else.”