A dingo has dragged a toddler from a camper trailer on Fraser Island overnight, in what seems to be the most aggressive attack by a dingo in many years.
Paramedics were alerted when the father of the 14-month old heard his sons cries, and when he went to get his son he found him metres from the van, with a dingo apparently attempting to drag the boy off. Local paramedic, Ben Du Toit, received the call for help, and met the family at Eurong Resort, where the rescue helicopter airlifted the boy to Hervey Bay Hospital in a stable condition.
Our thoughts are with the family as they and their little boy recover from the ordeal.
This comes as a timely reminder that dingoes are an apex predator, and need to be afforded the same respect as crocodiles up north. Ensure when you’re off to bed, you completely button up your campers and swags, leave no food or scraps out to entice them into your camp, and make sure you have access to contact emergency services should you need to. If you are travelling with young ones, there are more than a few fenced off ‘dingo-safe’ areas you are able to camp as well. Just make sure you’re doing everything you can to keep you and your family safe, and don’t fall into complacency.
There have already been calls on social media this morning to cull all dingoes on Fraser Island, or just close off the island to four-wheel drivers entirely, leaving open only the resorts to foot traffic off the barge, and leaving the island to the tour operators.
With reports that a dingo has dragged a toddler from a camper trailer on Fraser Island, do you agree with some of the sentiment to close Fraser Island or cull the dingoes completely? Or do you think leaving it as is, and making people be more proactive in regards to their safety is a wiser choice? Let us know below.
56 comments
I would hate to see the dingos culled because of human behaviour. At the same time closing Fraser to 4WDs seems unfair.
Education is the answer. There arent many ways onto the island so the authorities have a captive audience and could heavily warn of dingo danger and information signs and warnings around.
Policed laws against interaction with dingos also needed.
It’s a bit like shark attacks. You are in their enviroment, you be careful, don’t blame the animal. They are only doing what is natural and us being humans are supposed to be smarter. But I sometimes don’t think so. All we want to do is kill every thing that gets in our way. Cars kill more humans but you don’t hear about culling cars or the drivers.
Just take responsibility for your own campsite, don’t expect someone else to look after your group, read the signs. The dingoes don’t need to be culled, just don’t treat them as pets. The Greens would love all 4wd’s banned from everywhere, so would the commercial operators of tourism on the island.
Just be careful but do not close off Fraser Island to 4×4 campers. It’s like closing off the ocean just because sharks live there!
Here we go again…blame the animal. Am so over these petty people that jump on the band wagon and want to annihilate any unspoken that moves because of a minority that totally ignore all the warning signs or choose to camp in unsafe areas when they could have chosen a enclosed safe spot when children involved.
SHUT THE ISLAND OFF FROM SAPIENS AND LEAVE THE DINGOES AT PEACE. …AFTER ALL IT IS THEIR ISLAND..
SHUT the Island off to SAPIENS…leave the Dingoes in peace..it’s their island first and foremost in my eyes. People have done/doing enough damage around the planet…LEAVE THEM BE
I suggest reducing their ability to over breed. I also believe we should ALL remain responsible for our own safety regardless of the threat. Neither culling nor closing is the answer these are simply knee jerk reactions. Allan M
Campers have shared Fraser Island with Dingoes for years and years but sadly I think the issue of Dingoes becoming more brazen over the past few years is largely due to humans feeding them and encouraging them to come into campsite areas.
There is alot if signage and information available to educate people about the do’s and dont’s of how to interact with dingoes.
It comes down to personal responsibility, yes perhaps there are a few rogue dingoes that need to be either relocated or culled, but in general people need to remember dingoes are not domestic dogs, they are wild dogs and need to be treated as such. They have very strong hunting instincts and are a pack animal. These are natural behaviours to them so people need to not become too complacent when camping on Fraser Island.
I DO NOT think the answer is to stop camping or recreational 4×4 access to Fraser but perhaps when people book to access Fraser they have to fill in a questionnaire about dingo awareness.
Do close island off. Let look at why they would of got the human for food. Eg we haven’t had a really good year for other animals to beard eg food for dingo. May have to look at numbers on the island but people shouldn’t leave there camp open
Well said
We should not Cull any of the Dingoes most of the Island is a national park people are entering at their own risk , we do not know the full story what happen to the Toddler, I think there was a a lot of complacency happening that night , there should be more education about the area ,the island should left the way it is , there is now fenced camp areas available people with children should be made to use these areas only.
Awesome well said
Possibly not the solution in this case…but I certainly agree that we are destroying our planet….especially mining…forestry…and the selling off of our beautiful country to China and Japan…im embarrassed for our government and becoming less proud to be an Aussie….
So i’f the dingo could walk into their tent/camper & take their “todler”, & they only noticed when the kid cried, what was stopping the kid from getting up walking out, wandering off & stepping onto a stick or falling over or something then crying and at the same time, dingo’s are inquisitive, so it came over for a look at the crying little thing on the ground & the guy heard his kid, came looking & low & behold… “the dingo’s got my baby”!!
Well firstly if you zipped up your tent/ camper the kid couldn’t have got out or the dingo couldn’t have got in! Ok, so we can presune the kid was meant to be having a nap? If not, why was the kid left on its own at that age & why was it not in a porta cot???
Just saying…
put the Brumbies back for them for food as it was in the start. All the human interfering has done well so far hasn’ t it.
I have been to Frasier 3 times and only seen 1 marsupial ( a small wallaby on the northern end of the island) but i have seen quite a lot of Dingoes,
I feel that if we start re-introducing native marsupials for the dingos to pray on and release them in areas reasonably far away from the camp areas that may help keeping the dingoes more occupied on hunting their own natural pray.
And the idea of an online educational safety induction to camping on the island prior to obtaining a permit for the first time maybe a way of at least attempting to educate some of the people coming onto the island who would be less informed if they didn’t do this in the first place.
This could incorporate not only dingo safety but track and beach speed limits,
Sand dune conservation, safe sand driving, not sleeping on the beach at night. And even the often overlooked high tiger shark population.
There is a lot to the island that a lot of us are aware of but first timers are oblivious to.
The island shouldn’t be locked up and the dingoes should be left alone. I have been going to Fraser regularly since I was 13 when my youngest brother was 2 and went every year until my mid twenties. There were no dingo safe camps etc but common sense prevailed and despite regular encounters with dingoes no incidents. The problem is that the islands have become too accessible with boarding/belts to allow every inexperienced camper/4wder access along with a booming recreational industry has seen significantly increased volumes of visitors with, in a lot of cases, an inherent lack of respect or ignorance for the environment. As a result more dingoes are fed directly/indirectly resulting in humans being known as food source encouraging them into camps, they lose fear of humans and the dingo populations thrive due to the artificially increased food supply. Then things like this incident become more likely to happen. Instead of turning national parks into glorified caravan parks with designated campgrounds and fancy facilities (which seems to be the trend) resources should be directed into visitor education and enforcing (with harsher penalty) the rules in respect of intentional (feeding wildlife) and unintentional (inadequately securing food and rubbish) acts.
Feel for the family at this time but Please leave the island as is and maybe we SAPIENS need to start being more aware of our actions and read the signs.
Don’t shut Fraser to people, The public must be made more aware of how dingoes can enter camper trailer tents etc. Some more fenced off camping areas would help. Fraser dogs have already been relocated to sites around Mundubbera and the back end of Emu creek to nane a few.
I agree !
I feel for the Bub and parents and hope he pulls through. To all the do gooders and Greenies who want the dingoes culled or Fraser closed off please butt out .
What is needed is an education campaign and visitors to Fraser to have to sign a declaration that they are aware of the dangers etc and are prepared and able to cope with any possible encounters with wildlife. I have been to Fraser several times and always ensure everything is locked away and campsite secured at night or whilst out on day trips. EDUCATE DON,T ELIMINATE !!
Bit unfair to blame the animal. Parents need to step up and be exactly that- parents!!! This includes being responsible for your children.
Further education should be mandatory and penalties should be harsher for doing the wrong thing.
With all due respect to those concerned. Leave the dogs alone its their land. Its no different to swimming in the sharks kitchen.
It’s parents responsibility to ensure their kids are safe at all times. Would they allow their kids to have access to the surf while they were asleep? So many parents need training before they venture out of suburbia.
Maybe I’m wrong but hasn’t the incident of attack/ biting etc increased since the horses were removed.The bloody dogs are hungry. One only needs to look at them over the last 40 years as my family has to see the change in condition. They’ve gone from lean wild dog that we hardly ever set eyes on to hungry skin & bone trolling the camp sites & beaches for anything they can sink their teeth into. This is their yard your playing in people use your common sense. Bring back the food/horses .
Hmmm, maybe Lindy was telling the truth?
These parents made a mistake, it happens as no one is perfect and I truly feel for them. We learn from our mistakes and move on or better yet we learn from others mistakes and move on and in this case the child is OK and because of the media an awful lot of people will also now be reminded of the dingo hazard there.
The people who think we should close the island because of an incident like this are the kind of people who would eventually have us all locked up inside our homes seeing the world by TV because the big bad world is too dangerous for them and therefore feel it is also too dangerous for the rest of us. If they want to see the world safely from their sofa’s on TV thats their choice and I don’t have a problem with that at all. Heck, I love David Attenborough myself but when he shows me something I then want to go see it for myself.
I want to live a real life and make my own mistakes and I don’t see why those stay at homes have the right to stop me doing that if I am not doing any harm.
So, a big thanks to them for caring but no thanks for their attempt to protect me, I prefer to make my own choices.
If the dingos are that big a problem the round them up and relocate them to the mainland. There are plenty of places in central Australia where they can roam and cause no problems to tourist.
For goodness sake, the call to cull dingoes makes no more sense than the ridiculous call to cull sharks! WE are in their environment, and WE should take all necessary steps to ensure our interactions are safe and responsible.
It is a horrible thing to have happen to your child, everyone agrees. But why would you think that if you present a predator with an easy meal it won’t seize it? Education is the answer I believe. I’ve never been to the island, it’s on the ever growing bucket list. But there’s no way known that I’d be leaving my baby daughter in a way that it’d be easy for a dingo or any other predators to come and take her
Cull the foxes if numbers are out of control. They are not a natural species & have been introduced. However i think Biosecurity are the best & most educated people to solve this issue. You can not blame the parents its extremely rude & out of line. A lot of these responses are not nice responses. Its not a child’s discussion. You have Dingo culls going on in many parts of Australia because they are a threat, a pest, & an introduced species to Australia and ONLY do damage. I imagine Frazer island is no different. A lot more research needs to be done before such strong opinions are voiced. I feel very extremely sorry for the trauma the family have experienced.
So it was proved that there was at least 5+ Dingoes in the pack that was seen around the camp where this young child was injured. It was also proven that 2 dingoes had entered the camper trailer by squeezing under the walls of the tent, this meaning that the family possibly didn’t have the floor installed in the annex. I do the same when I’m camping.
The dingoes entered camp sometime around midnight so I take it that everyone in the camper was asleep and not the child being out for a midnight walk.
I’ve camped on Fraser well over a dozen times and have never falling foul of a dingo and yes I have taken my young children there many times as well. My children have been educated on the dingoes and we all stay in very close proximity to each other. Don’t get me wrong I have seen fresh dingo footprints around our camp in the mornings and I show this to my children so they realise that we are in their backyard and we must respect them.
Don’t cull them just educate people better. I’d hate to see them gone and my children love seeing them when we’re out and about on this amazing island. If you don’t like the dingoes on the Island then stay away from Fraser, there’s plenty of other places you can go to beach camp.
The dingoes are part of the Fraser Island experience let’s not wreck that for everyone, let’s respect them and enjoy this amazing Island.
I’m sorry, but this is where you are very wrong. The dingoes are an introduced species (originally brought over by humans from Asia) to the island around 7,000 years ago. A very short period of time when you look at the evolution of a species.
Prior to this, for hundreds of thousands of years, the island was in-habitited by a large & diverse range of NATIVE marsupials who would no doubt , still be there were it not for the dingoes there today.
When you visit Fraser island now, other than the odd (lucky) lizard here or there, the only thing you see is dingoes.
One can only imagine what a wonderful place it would be if we could have our native marsupials re-instated back onto the island. They would thrive there without the dingoes.
Been to Frazer many times never had problems with dingos only problems with tour groups full of backpackers that encourage the dingos for selfies. Big fines for these tour groups would make it safer for everyone else to enjoy the island
You cannot cull the Dingoes,
There is a thing called common sense, does it still exist.
Listen to the rangers, read the information, be responsible for your own actions.
Hey Clarissa, perhaps do some thinking or reading about an article before u comment. Dingos are not introduced to Australia They are native to and only found in Australia and shouldn’t be called or related to any discussion about foxes….
We took our 4B to Frazer Island and took a Ranger guided tour during which we were advised dingos are a problem. Numbers bred up because of tourist feeding and they were becoming more demanding. The then current plan was to ban all tourist feeding and allow the dingos to find the natural sustainable level with no plan to support them through the transition. I believe the result is starving dingos any wonder manageable sized humans end up on the menu?
Given the pure gene strain of the Frazer dingo I am surprised a suitable number were not expatriated to the mainland.
Closing Fraser Island to 4 wheel drives is not the answer, nor is culling the dingoes. What happened is tragic, the island needs to have more natural prey for the dingoes, they are starving, so look for an easy meal! Put marsupials on the island in large numbers, then at least they won’t be looking for alternative food sources such as small children. But these ignorant tourists who encourage the dingoes over with food need to be severely punished, not just fined but jailed! Why should we as locals be punished because of some pathetic people who choose not to follow safety advice. If the Island closed the lost revenue would cripple the businesses on the island, & the mainland. People need to understand this, if business is lost that is another strain on our welfare system. Be reasonable & sensible about this sad state of affairs & use common sense to rectify the situation, without making rash decisions.
If a shark attacks a human we cull the sharks. If a dingo attacks a human, we kill the dingoes. If a car kills a man, we scrap all cars. Or possibly not? Use common sense please.
If a visitor is to arrogant to accept the advice constantly offered by all authorities and residents of the island perhaps they should not be there!
There is potential for risk in all forms of life. One just needs to take appropriate awareness, responsibility, care and caution towards the environment their in!
Four possible solutions to Fraser Is dingoes.
1. Fence an area for them so as not to integrate with humans.
2. Cull them (though I can’t see this happening).
3. Remove them to the mainland.
4. Close Fraser Island to people & let dingos have the lot.
Something really needs to be done soon.
What are your thoughts ?
Agree
Agree Terry
We’ve been travelling and beach camping at Fraser for years and have never had an issue with dingoes. They are part of the attraction. You don’t stop swimming at the beach because of sharks or going to the top end because of crocks. Campers need to understand that the dingo is a wild dog that warrants respect. Keep the island open to all users.
Do not bring them to the mainland unless into zoos or similar. Last time they removed dingoes from Fraser the national park idiots released them around Toogoolawah, Oakey and Pittsworth, Qld. We have been suffering very heavy stock losses ever since despite baiting and shooting. If you raised a dingo and released it you would be fined $30,000 but national park idiots can do as they please. Perhaps we need to get rid of dingoes and national park idiots.
When are the Politicians and rule makers in our wonderful country going to stop punishing the majority for the mistakes or failures of the minority? People need to be made responsible for their own actions and not expect councils and the government to wrap everything in cotton wool!
Responsible common sense and learning to respect the country and all who enjoy its many bounties needs to be upheld by all.
Those who elect not to respect social values should have their freedom to enjoy the wonders and pleasures of Australia revoked until they learn how to behave.
I feel extremely sorry for the family whose Baby was mauled, but you have to wonder how the dingo got into the camper trailer.
In Africa if you camp in the wild you make sure your tent is closed up at night and that suffices to keep much larger carnivores out, but if you leave it open you are asking for a nocturnal visit!
So Fraser should be left as is, you could debate the euthanasia of the Dingo responsible if the identity of the dog was known as it is an unnatural thing for a Dingo to do, however it is the fault of irresponsible persons feeding the Dingoes and thus making them familiar and losing their natural fear or mistrust of humans.
It is very real that a dingo can take a baby boy, Perhaps a lot of people can go back when nobody believed Lindy Chamberlen I remember oh so well. We don’t need to cull we need to be more aware of the dangers.
Leave Frazer as is.
People need to understand what You’ve writen above.
Dingos are wild animals leave them alone.
I go fishing on Frazer every couple of yrs, and every time I see people stopped nxt to them on the beach trying to either feed them or in some cases pat them.
That’s why this stuff happens.
Like the rubbish and dick head drivers it’s the people who are the problem.
YES Leave it as it is . People need to be more proactive. Treat Them with the same respect as Crocs!!
leave it as it is
Leave it as is and make the visitors accountable for their safety. If it was in Africa would go around and cull all the wild life that is dangerous?
Educate the public and that’s all. Comments like this have no place. As previous stated do we kill all the sharks, big cats, hippo’s, snakes because we want to be in their habitat. Get a life.
If you are going to Fraser Island you know the risks with dingoes and take the due care. If this is not suitable for you then don’t go.
Absolutely agree that closing the island or culling is not the answer. The article talks about most aggressive attack in years. What has changed, is there a lack of food for them, has their natural prey fallen into decline. Surely without directly feeding them, we can bolster there food chain which might see a change in their behaviour. Just a though, I’m expert.
Totally agree