Major call after kids attacked by dingoes

A Queensland mayor has proposed banning children under 12 from camping in unfenced areas on a heritage-listed tourist hotspot, following a spate of violent dingo attacks.

Fraser Coast mayor George Seymour’s proposal follows a four-year-old girl being bitten by one of the animals at NgKala Rocks, on the eastern side of K’gari (Fraser Island) earlier this month.

The dingo – known traditionally as a Wongari – approached the child and bit her around the chest area, causing lacerations, bruising and a puncture wound.

It was one of several attacks recorded on the heritage-listed sand island this year, with the numbers spiking over 2023.

The marked increase has led Cr Seymour to write to the State Government, calling for children under 12 to be restricted to fenced-in camping areas of the island only.

“I just don’t think that it is an appropriate place for children to be, given the number of attacks, the changing nature of attacks, and the potential for a fatality here,” he told ABC Radio.

“When families go over there, they are told they need to keep children within arm’s length of them at all times,”

“That doesn’t make for a fun experience either for parents or children. I think there are many safer places where children can go camping on the mainland.”

Cr Seymour said he was concerned for the preservation of children and of the island’s wilderness.

“I don’t want to see any dingoes being put down because of interactions with humans,” he said.

“It is a wilderness – dingoes are an essential part of that world-heritage wilderness.”

Many of this year’s dingo incidents have involved young children, with a two-year old boy being bitten in June as his family were trying to get in their car leaving Lake McKenzie.

Visitors with children under 14 are already told to only camp in areas with dingo-deterrent fencing and to follow the island’s “Be Dingo-Safe!” guidelines.

Environment Minister Leanne Linard said people needed to remain vigilant on the island at all times, including on beaches and at highly visited areas like Eli Creek.

“It is also vital that everyone follows the rules, thereby reducing habituation of dingoes and decreasing the risk of attack,” she said.

Areas with dingo deterrent fencing include all townships, along with campgrounds at Central Station, Dundubara, Waddy Point, Wathumba and Lake Boomanjin.

There are also fenced beach camping areas at Cornwells, Eli and Wongai.

One dingo responsible for several serious incidents on the island was euthanised in January.

In a statement, the Department of Environment and Science (DESI) said the tagged dingo was exhibiting dangerous behaviour, after two separate attacks on young children in the Hook Point area, as well as biting a man on the thigh.

Euthanising a dingo is considered a last resort due to the risk of interrupting K’gari’s natural, ecological and cultural wellbeing, a spokesman said.

Nearly 30 dingo attacks were recorded on K’gari over 2023 – compared to just five in 2022 and 13 in 2021.

One of the more high profile attacks included video of a French tourist being bitten on the buttocks as she sunbathed.

In June last year, a 10-year-old boy was attacked and dragged underwater by a dingo on the west coast of K’gari in front of a camping area.