A dingo responsible for several high-risk incidents on K’gari (formerly Fraser Island) has been captured and humanely euthanised over the weekend.
The most recent serious incident involved biting a woman who was standing alone on the beach on 26 August.
The dingo has demonstrated increasingly significant high-risk behaviours since it was tagged in January 2023, including stealing food, persistently approaching people, stalking, circling, lunging, nipping and biting.
Before making this difficult decision, the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) implemented a number of alternative options in an attempt to manage the dingo’s behaviours, and consulted with the island’s Traditional Owners, the Butchulla people.
This included collaring the dingo in July 2023 to enable rangers to better monitor its behaviour and movements, and in August 2023 rangers closed camping areas in the dingoes preferred range to minimise the risks of increased habitation.
Rangers also asked visitors to avoid preparing or consuming food and sunbaking lying down at Eli Creek and lakeshores areas.
The dingo continued its pattern of negative interactions towards people with a series of threatening and high-risk interactions recorded involving children, adults, and rangers, including six high-risk interactions.
Many of these high-risk interactions involved a second tagged dingo. In recent weeks, rangers have stepped up patrols to monitor both animals, and rangers will continue to closely monitor the second dingo before making any further management decisions.
Euthanising 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 part of QPWS’s commitment to ensure the safety of everyone who visits or lives on the island.
