Concern that children ‘running amok’ on K’gari could lead to fatality

It is only a matter of time before a visitor on K’gari will be fatally injured amid a spate of dingo attacks, unless visitor numbers are curbed on the island, an advocacy group says.

Six additional rangers have hit the sands of K’gari following a spate of dingo attacks on the island and amid experts ‘concerns it is only a matter of time before a visitor is fatally injured.

The Sunday Mail can exclusively reveal that six of the 11 additional rangers, funded by the Queensland Government, have already started on K’gari – formerly Fraser Island – following several negative interactions between the island’s native dingo (wongari) population and humans earlier this year.

It comes just days after the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) confirmed they were investigating two high risk incidents on the island, involving an untagged juvenile dingo and children.

But Save Fraser Island Dingoes spokeswoman Cheryl Bryant told The Sunday Mail they have been inundated with reports of unsupervised children “running amok” on the island and that they are concerned the additional rangers were “not enough” to prevent negative dingo interactions and the possibility of a fatal attack.

Save Fraser Island Dingos (left to right) Malcolm Kilpatrick, Cheryl Bryant and Karin Kilpatrick. Picture: Sarah Marshall

She said as Christmas approaches the dingoes will again be “under siege by the arrival of hordes of holiday makers”.

“(Negative dingo interactions) can be catastrophic when you are in such a remote area … (dingoes) are not out to kill anybody but the fact is, if a child got bitten and there wasn’t anyone around, it could end up in a fatality,” she said.

Speaking about negative dingo interactions, Ms Bryant said: “I don’t think there is a solution as long as (the government) keeps allowing more and more visitors”.

In September, the government announced additional funding for K’gari including the employment of an additional six Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service rangers and four additional Indigenous rangers in partnership with the traditional owners, the Butchulla People.

The government also recently announced funding for an additional Butchulla ranger under the Indigenous Land and Sea Ranger Program, boosting Butchulla Land and Sea ranger numbers patrolling Butchulla Country to nine.

A dingo at Eli Creek on Fraser Island.

Environment Minister Leanne Linard said the new rangers will play an important role this holiday season “reinforcing safety messages and allowing for even more compliance activity on the island”.

Safety messaging and communications are also being expanded to include the delivery of additional proactive safety messages on social media, at locations where tourists obtain camping permits and at arrival points on the island.

Earlier this week, the QPWS revealed that a five-year-old girl was bitten on the thigh and received lacerations and bruising near Wathumba beach on Sunday, December 10.

“Witnesses said the girl ran from a large group of people near the sand flats, and a nearby dingo ran at full speed towards her and nipped her on the thigh,” the statement read.

“The girl stopped running, then became scared and ran as people were running toward her, and the dingo followed and bit her on the thigh.”

Environment Minister Leanne Linard. Picture: John Gass

The next day, December 11, rangers were patrolling Wathumba beach, delivering Be Dingo-safe messaging to visitors when they noticed a boy, 7, away from his family.

“A dingo that had been sleeping under a vehicle began walking toward the boy with intent, and the boy became scared and ran,” the statement read.

“The dingo ran at speed toward the boy as rangers ran through the water and the parents also ran for the boy. The dingo lunged, attempting to bite but did not make contact.”

The QPWS has since reminded visitors and residents on K’gari to keep children under “constant supervision”.

But Ms Bryant said children are often observed “running around screaming” on the island with their parents “nowhere to be found”.

“Visitors are too complacent … there is no excuse for leaving your children unattended,” she said.

“I think parents who neglect their children, let them wander off, they should definitely be fined, there should be more compliance.”