Dingo danger: List of close-calls revealed

Common themes have emerged as parents are warned to keep their children close when visiting Fraser Island over the school holidays

Fraser Island Dingoes play around in the sand.

Parents are being reminded to keep their kids close to protect them from dingoes when visiting Fraser Island ahead of the upcoming school holidays.

It follows two recent attacks on children at Orchid Beach and a decision from the Department of Environment to fit dingoes in the holiday hotspot with tracking collars.

Incident reports flagging human and dingo interactions in March show one of the most common dangers is dingoes loitering around people fishing off the beach and approaching anglers.

According to the DES reports, there have been cases where children have not been appropriately supervised by an adult and belongings not packed away which resulted in a dingo pulling a box and esky off a camping table.

There was even an incident where food was deliberately given to a dingo to entice them forward in order to capture a better photograph.

The photographer and two others who have been caught feeding the dingoes have been fined.

“These misguided people who try to interact with dingoes were shown zero tolerance and should expect to feel the full force of the penalties that apply,” the spokesman said

WARNING: Fraser Island dingoes are active over the peal holiday period.

The minimum fine for intentionally feeding or disturbing a dingo is $2135 and the maximum is $10,676 per offence.

“Coupled together, these incidents also contribute towards the habituation and human tolerance of wongaris (the Butchulla name for dingoes) and could cause them to become aggressive and attack people,” the spokesman said.

“Unfortunately, this aggression is often not targeted at the people inciting the poor behaviour, but usually results in an innocent visitor taking the brunt, in the latest cases these were small children, and without intervention, these attacks could have been fatal.

“For public safety reasons, following these recent attacks on the children, Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service rangers have ear-tagged habituated wongaris due to their heightened dingo/human activity in the Orchid Beach area.

Visitors may also see dingoes wearing GPS camera collars.

Dingoes at Fraser Island's Orchid Beach have been fitted with GPS tracking collars.

QPWS has reminded visitors and residents on the island never to feed or interact with dingoes and secure all food and rubbish.

“When wongaris lose their natural wariness of people, they can loiter around campsites and townships,” the spokesman said.

“Residents and visitors to the island are reminded that a wongari pack at Orchid Beach is exhibiting habituated behaviour and have been involved in recent aggressive encounters with people.

“It is extremely important for parents to always keep children at arm’s length while on the island.

Visitors are also requested to remain vigilant while driving as dingoes are occasionally killed by drivers not paying full attention to the conditions.

There are between 100 to 200 dingoes on the island and this population fluctuates seasonally, with a number of dingoes also succumbing to natural processes including infighting within the pack hierarchical structures and other causes.