For the third time this year, authorities on K’gari, formerly known as Fraser Island, recently took steps to capture and euthanise a wongari (dingo) that had been involved in numerous high-risk incidents.
The most recent and concerning of these incidents occurred on August 26, when the dingo bit a woman who was standing alone on the beach. This event marked a continuation of escalating aggressive behaviour displayed by the dingo since it was first tagged in January 2023. Its problematic actions included food theft, persistent approaches towards people, stalking, circling, lunging, nipping, and biting.
Before resorting to euthanasia, the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) explored various alternative methods to manage the dingo’s behaviour. They collaborated with the Butchulla people, the island’s Traditional Owners, in their decision-making process. Some of the measures taken included attaching a tracking collar to the dingo in July 2023 for better monitoring and, in August 2023, closing camping areas within the dingo’s preferred range to reduce the risks associated with human habitation.
Additionally, park rangers urged visitors to avoid preparing or consuming food and sunbathing while lying down at Eli Creek and lakeshore areas. Despite these efforts, the dingo persisted in displaying aggressive behaviours, including multiple threatening encounters involving children, adults, and rangers, with six of them being particularly high-risk.
It’s important to note that some of these interactions also involved another tagged dingo. In recent weeks, rangers have intensified their patrols to monitor both animals closely, with future management decisions regarding the second dingo pending further evaluation.
Euthanasing 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 reflects the QPWS’s commitment to ensuring the safety of all individuals visiting or residing on the island.
Visitors are reminded to be dingo safe at all times, but not everyone heeds the warnings. On 7 September 2023, a 58-year-old Queensland man was filmed by a member of the public enticing and attempting to hand-feed two dingos at Eastern Beach adjacent to Poyungan Valley. The very next day, rangers from QPWS tracked him down and issued him with a $2,476 fine. Ouch!
Manager of Compliance Optimisation, Mike Devery, said the man knew he was breaking the rules, adding that he could not believe someone would choose to deliberately feed a dingo after all the publicity from recent incidents.
“This man has made a dangerous decision to feed and interact with wongari (dingo), and his actions could cause legacy issues on the island. It can take one incident like this to set wongari on the path to habituation, and now these wongari have been fed, they might associate people with food,” Mr Devery said.
“Rangers will have to monitor these wongari closely to ensure they retain their natural wariness of people and don’t start approaching people or lingering around camping areas. One wongari that is becoming habituated can influence their pack – this man has fed two of them, and we make no apology for handing out fines to people for their irresponsible behaviour.”
Visitors and residents on K’gari are encouraged to report any negative dingo encounters to a QPWS ranger, or phone 07 4127 9150 or email dingo.ranger@des.qld.gov.au as soon as possible.
Visitors are reminded to be dingo-safe at all times. Here’s what you can do:
For more information, go to About K’gari dingoes.
