A juvenile dingo pounced on a young boy after he stumbled and fell in the sand on Fraser Island.
More details have emerged about an incident involving a dingo and visitor Thursday morning.
The Queensland Ambulance Service’s duty paramedic on the island said he had been called to Orchid Beach mid-morning.
He said the boy, aged 9, from New South Wales, had been playing on the beach with his father in the vicinity of a small pack of dingoes.
“The child stumbled and fell and a juvenile dingo came at him. The boy’s father scared it away and the boy was found to have minor abrasions – no puncture wounds.”
An off-duty nurse had already cleaned and applied first aid before the paramedic arrived on the scene.
The paramedic had some good advice for families visiting the island.
“You need to make sure you keep your children within one to two arms’ length and if there are dingoes, to put yourself between children and the animal.
“If it comes closer, face it. Also carry a stick.”
QPWS rangers said the dingo responsible for the reported attack had been identified.
They are seeking further information about the incident and no decisions have been made about the animals.
“Previously, QPWS has used tracking collars to reduce negative interactions between wongari and people. When investigations have determined that wongari present an unacceptable risk to the public, decisions have been made to euthanise the animals,” a spokesman said.
Rangers said they had not observed any obvious health issues with the dingo population after the recent fires.
“The health of the wongari that live on K’gari is constantly monitored by experienced rangers and the animals are observed to be in overall good health and have an abundance of natural food resources.”
Sunshinecoastnews.com.au reported on January 22 that DES had extended the closure of four campgrounds on K’gari until June due to issues with dingoes.
Ranger in charge Linda Behrendorff said that rangers had been forced to close Eli campground, Maheno campground, Guluri campground and Wahba campground in September 2020 as a result of inappropriate human interactions with dingoes at popular locations like Eli Creek, Maheno and Happy Valley.
The island has had a long history of attacks and efforts to reduce negative interactions between the animals and people are ongoing.
