Queensland authorities are urging people on K’gari (Frazer Island) to be vigilant, after two separate dingo attacks over the long weekend. Making it four high-risk interactions in a week. Rangers say they are increasing patrols around popular areas of the island, while urging visitors to stay vigilant of dingoes.
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00:00Well, these two attacks make for the fourth reported incident on Queensland's Garry Island
00:08in the last week or so.
00:10This all really unfolded from Saturday over the long weekend where a woman was attacked
00:15by a dingo and bitten on the leg after attempting to stop the animal from taking her bag.
00:20It does, of course, follow another incident yesterday where a two-year-old child was also
00:25bitten on the leg at Lake Mackenzie, which is towards the middle of the island, and was
00:30suffered from superficial injuries.
00:32Now, this all comes after a similar incident also unfolding last Thursday where a four-year-old
00:38child who was swimming in shallow waters with her sister was also bitten on the leg by a
00:43dingo, which is sort of showing a concerning pattern of behaviour.
00:46Now, this has prompted rangers from the World Heritage-listed island to call on tourists
00:52to ensure that they're exercising caution and practising and adhering to the safety
00:56measures while on the island, especially during holiday season.
01:00A lot of these behaviours, rangers say, are being exhibited by habituated dingoes, which
01:05effectively means that they've become familiar with humans and are no longer feeling that
01:10natural fear of them.
01:12It's something that the advice from rangers is continuing to be perpetuated, they say,
01:16to make sure you're always keeping your children while you're on the island within arm's length.
01:21That includes teens.
01:22Often dingoes can seem to attack what they perceive to be the smallest or weakest members
01:27of a pack.
01:28They also are advising for people to make sure they camp within fenced areas and to
01:34make sure that they are staying dingo safe, especially as we head further into the summer.