Second dingo incident in space of days on Fraser Island

A second dingo incident involving a child in the space of just a few days has been reported at one of the state’s most popular tourist islands.

Another incident involving a dingo and a child has occurred at Waddy Point on Fraser Island, just days after a child was bitten and held underwater by one of the animals.

Another incident involving a dingo and a child has occurred at Waddy Point on Fraser Island, just days after a child was bitten and held underwater by one of the animals.

Ranger in charge Jenna Tapply said the incident involved a 10-year-old boy who was mouthed on the back of the leg by a dingo.

The incident happened about 2.20pm in a shallow lagoon at Waddy Point.

Ms Tapply said the boy was not being directly supervised at the time and his parents were alerted to the incident when he jumped up and they then ran to him.

He was examined by a ranger who found the boy had no injuries and no medical intervention was needed.

“He was very lucky, it could have been a lot more serious,” Ms Tapply said.

It comes after a dingo attack injured a six-year-old girl, who had to be flown off the island with minor bites to her head and hands on Monday.

The dingo also reportedly held her underwater for a few seconds before nearby family members were able to get the dingo off her.

As tourist visit the island for the Easter school holidays, Ms Tapply said it was important to continue to impress upon them how urgent it was to be dingo-safe.

A dingo on Fraser Island.

She said kids needed to be kept close and parents needed to be aware of what was in their environment at all time.

At this point there was no talk of re-closing Waddy Point, which had only reopened three days prior to the attack after increased dingo, also known as wongari, activity.

Ms Tapply said there were large numbers of rangers and Butchulla rangers in the area over the holidays to assist with keeping people safe and that number would increase over the Easter weekend.

She asked people to be aware that it was a national park and there was wildlife everywhere.

Between 2018 and 2023, there have been 33 incidents where a wongari has nipped, mouthed or bitten a person on K’gari.

A spokesman from the Department of Environment and Science said rangers were continuing to investigate the incident on Monday and attempting to identify the responsible animal, which will assist in determining management options within the scope of the Dingo Conservation and Risk Management Strategy.

“Wongari are a natural and important part of the ecosystems and culture on K’gari. It is important to remember the wongari are wild animals and they are unpredictable,” he said.