A boy is mauled by a dingo while in his father’s arms, in the latest attack on the popular holiday island.
A boy was savagely attacked by a dingo while in his father’s arms on a K’gari beach in the latest attack on the popular holiday island.
The 8-year-old boy was on the beach in the Happy Valley area of the island Saturday evening at sunset with his family when he fell.
His father picked him up as a dingo approached before the wild animal suddenly jumped up to bite the boy on the buttocks and scratch his back, leaving puncture wounds and scratches.
A paramedic accompanied the boy and his mother to Hervey Bay, where he was taken to hospital for treatment, according to the mail.
It is understood that the family saw several dingoes approaching them in the dark as they walked on the beach.
It comes just weeks after a dingo bit a 10-year-old boy on the shoulder and dragged him underwater.
The 10-year-old boy was walking along the water’s edge on the sandy island, formerly known as Fraser Island, when he was stalked and attacked by the dingo near a camping area last month.
He was rescued by his 12-year-old sister and was treated for puncture wounds to his shoulder and bruises to his clavicle.
It comes just weeks after another dingo was euthanized following a series of attacks, including that of a French tourist in her 20s sunbathing on the eastern side of the World Heritage-listed island.
Queensland’s Department of Environment and Science (DES) told ABC the attack, which was caught on camera, happened in April or May.
The decision to humanely euthanize the animal earlier this month was made after it attacked numerous other tourists, including a seven-year-old boy and a 42-year-old woman.
Rangers said there have been multiple cases on the island where visitors required assistance after wild animals harassed or growled at them.
Deputy Chief Ranger Danielle Mansfield said tourists were not properly supervising their children, which on the island meant keeping them within an adult’s arm’s reach at all times.
“These animals are capable of serious damage, have bitten children and adults, and some are quite cheeky and won’t run away when yelled at or when someone swings a stick,” he said.
“People think it won’t happen to them, but it can happen to anyone and that’s why rangers are getting as many people as possible safe information about dingoes,” he said.
“We don’t want any incidents in K’gari, and people need to understand that dingoes are wild animals and should never be fed or interacted with.”
Rangers say visitors discarding food or deliberately feeding dingoes have directly caused “current and historical problems” between animals and people on the island.
“This has to stop now, and people have to make the personal safety (of visitors) and the safety of their friends and family a priority,” Ms Mansfield said.
The dingo or wongari is considered native wildlife under the Nature Conservation Act of 1992 and is protected in national parks.
K’gari is a World Heritage-listed island off the south-east coast of Queensland and is part of the Great Sandy National Park, known for its long beaches, forests and pristine freshwater lakes.
