Tourists fined for dingo offences on Fraser Island

After one tourist decided to pay a fine for feeding a dingo rather than head to court, it has been revealed that already in 2022, 20 fines have been issued for dingo offences on Fraser Island.

A man busted feeding a dingo on Fraser Island lied to police about the encounter, but has since paid the fine he was given almost a year ago.

Videos and photos taken by others at the scene of his offence proved he had been feeding the animals, known by the Butchulla people as wongari.

It comes as it was revealed that already in 2022, 20 fines have been handed out to tourists who either fed dingoes or failed to secure their food.

Police officer Chris Bird was patrolling the beach on Fraser in May 2021, and as he pulled into Eli Creek, he was flagged down by a tour bus operator.

“I was informed that a man had fed a wongari, and the tour bus operator pointed him out. When I spoke to the man he denied it and said a piece of bread had blown off his bonnet,” Senior Constable Bird said.

“However, the tour bus operator and tourists were able to show me photos and videos of the man clearly feeding the wongari.

“The man continued to deny it, and the following day I wrote up the Penalty Infringement Notice with the approval of the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service.

“I discovered the man didn’t have a vehicle access permit so I wrote a PIN for that too. When I drove to Kingfisher Bay to issue the PINs, the man had left the island.

“The $2135 PIN for feeding the wongari and the $206 PIN for not having a vehicle access permit were sent in the mail.

“The Queensland Police Service will continue to support the work that QPWS rangers do to keep people and wongari safe on the island and we will issue fines when people break the law.”

The man initially indicated he would contest the PIN for deliberately feeding the wongari, but recently decided to pay it.

In 2021, 26 fines were issued on K’gari to people who interacted with dingoes, deliberately or inadvertently fed them or failed to secure food properly.

QPWS principal ranger Mark Cody said already in 2022, 20 fines had been issued – two for interacting with wongari and 18 for failing to secure food properly.

“This shows that rangers take a zero-tolerance approach to all offences that may impact wongari,” Mr Cody said.

“Residents and visitors to the island also do not tolerate people feeding or interacting with wongari, and rangers routinely receive photos and videos from people who have witnessed offences.

“We also receive information from members of the public who have seen alleged wongari offences uploaded to social media.

“People who expect their social media contacts to like that selfie with a wongari need to understand that those contacts might like your post, but they’ll also contact rangers.

“There are eyes and ears everywhere, on and off the island, and people who take risks and break the law can expect to receive a fine.

“You do not need to feed a wongari simply because it enters your area because there is plenty of food for them on the island.”