Two women have each been fined $2,300 for interacting with dingoes on K’gari.
A 29 year-old New South Wales woman and a 25 year-old Queensland woman were reported to rangers by members of the public after posting images and video on social media.
A 23 year-old Brisbane woman was attacked by four dingoes at Orchid Beach on Monday and bitten more than 30 times.
The Principal Ranger said two men, who punched the dingoes and rescued the woman, saved her life.
Department of Environment and Science Compliance Manager, Mike Devery, said both women have made an extremely dangerous decision to interact with dingoes and that’s why they have been fined.
“The Queensland woman could have been bitten by the dingo, which was clearly exhibiting dominance-testing behaviour.
“It is not playful behaviour. Dingoes are wild animals and need to be treated as such, and the woman is lucky the situation did not escalate,” Mr Devery said.
He said the New South Wales woman “recklessly” chose to pose for a selfie with three sleeping dingo pups and was lucky their mother wasn’t nearby.
“Dingoes are known for defending their packs and their pups, and it is unbelievable that people would endanger their well being like this.
“Deliberately interacting with dingoes is irresponsible, and rangers from the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) will not tolerate it,” he said.
Mr Devery said the number one priority is to keep people on K’gari safe and conserve the population of dingoes, and those who blatantly ignore the rules for social media attention can expect a fine or a court appearance.
Senior Ranger Linda Behrendorff said most of K’gari is bush land, giving dingoes plenty of territory to live, hunt and raise their pups.
She said animals that venture near the public areas can quickly become habituated and used to humans.
“One interaction can be the start of dingoes becoming habituated, because they lose their natural wariness of people.
“Residents and visitors to the island cannot treat dingoes as cute, hungry or something to play with, because they’ll start to approach people for food, and that can put the animals and people at risk,” she said.
QPWS rangers on K’gari spend a lot of time delivering “Be Dingo-safe” messaging to visitors and campers, and it is unfortunate that many people chose to ignore that advice, she said.
Rangers on the island would like to thank everyone who informs on people who post inappropriate videos and photos on social media, and those who provide information about people who deliberately feed dingoes.
People are encouraged to be dingo-safe and report any concerning dingo encounters by calling 07 4127 9150 or emailing dingo.ranger@des.qld.gov.au
