One other dingo has been put down on Queensland’s Okay’gari after plenty of “excessive danger” incidents, together with biting a lady on a seashore.
The assault on an jap seashore on 26 August was the most recent in a spate of encounters involving dingoes on the heritage-listed island.
It was the third Okay’gari dingo to be euthanised this 12 months. Previous to this 12 months there had not been a dingo euthanised on the island since 2019.
The lady concerned was handled for scratches on her thigh after the chew from the dingo, which was certainly one of two collared animals that approached her earlier than folks close by got here to her assist.
Rangers had tagged the dingo in January and since then had observed elevated behavioural issues together with stealing meals, persistently approaching folks, stalking, circling, lunging, nipping and biting, the division of surroundings and science mentioned.
The Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) consulted with the Butchulla folks, the island’s conventional house owners, earlier than euthanising the dingo on the weekend, which got here after rangers exhausted different choices.
These included collaring the animal in July and shutting tenting areas in August, however the dingo’s “threatening and excessive danger” interactions with folks, together with youngsters, continued.
Lots of these incidents concerned one other dingo and the division mentioned it could proceed to intently monitor the second animal.
“Euthanising a high-risk dingo is a final resort, however this determination is in step with the Fraser Island dingo conservation and danger administration technique, and a part of QPWS’s dedication to make sure the protection of everybody who visits or lives on the island,” the division mentioned.
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The attack is the latest in a string of dangerous encounters on K’gari, formerly known as Fraser Island, including one involving a woman who was bitten on the thigh after collared dingoes stalked a group of adults in mid-August.
In July, a 24-year-old woman was taken to hospital with numerous bites after being attacked by at least three dingoes while jogging on an eastern beach.
One of the dingoes was put down because it had been responsible for other threatening and biting incidents, including one involving a six-year-old girl.
In June, a dingo was euthanised after a string of incidents involving the animal in previous months, including the biting of a seven-year-old boy and a 42-year-old woman.
In early July, an eight-year-old boy was taken to hospital after being bitten and scratched when two dingoes approached his family on an eastern beach.
Despite the growing number of attacks, rangers have rejected calls to cull the dingo population on the island, blaming visitor behaviour for the spike in incidents.