A dingo has been captured and euthanised after a pack of dingoes attacked a woman at K'gari. The dingo was also responsible for the hospitalisation of a six-year-old girl and other threatening and biting incidents. Rangers have been investigating the attack of a 24-year-old woman on Queensland's K'gari, previously known as Fraser Island, on July 17. The woman was jogging when she was chased into the ocean by four dingoes and attacked about 9am. Two men rushed into the water to help with one receiving an injury to his hand. The woman suffered serious injuries to her legs and arms including bite wounds and lacerations and was flown to Hervey Bay Hospital. One of the dingoes involved had been wearing a GPS collar after it was identified as "high-risk" by rangers. It was heavier than usual, weighing more than 17kg, when the collar was put on in April; "a clear indication" it had been fed. "It was also clear from its behaviour that it had become habituated, either by being fed or from people interacting with it for videos and selfies," a Department of Environment and Science spokesperson said. "The animal had lost its natural wariness of people and entering campsites or loitering around people is not normal dingo behaviour." IN OTHER NEWS: In April a six-year-old girl was swimming in a shallow lagoon when the dingo approached her from behind and grabbed her by the head. Her family intervened and she was flown to hospital with three puncture wounds on her head and a wound on her hand. "Euthanising a high-risk dingo is always a last resort and the tough decision by the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service was supported by the island's traditional owners, the Butchulla people," the department spokesperson said. Another dingo was euthanised in June after serious incidents including biting a seven-year-old boy and a woman just days apart. There has been a rise in dingo-related incidents on K'gari this year including when an eight-year-old boy suffered wounds on his lower back and buttocks after he set upon while walking on the beach with his family. Queensland Environment minister Leanne Linard visited K'gari on July 19 said education was important for any visitors to the island. "We're always concerned about negative interactions with dingoes here on the island, we want people to be safe, we want them to come here and if they're having a holiday with their family to be safe and have a good holiday," she said. "But we also acknowledge it is a dynamic environment - dingoes are naturally occurring and an important part of the ecology." The island has dingo fencing in some areas and visitors are advised to carry sticks while out walking. People are also urged to walk in groups and keep children within arm's reach at all times. "These are wild animals, they can become quite excitable if someone is running and of course they're a pack animal and they think that's prey," Ms Linard said. Rangers have attributed dingoes' reduced wariness of people to the animals being fed deliberately or inadvertently. People who feed or interact with dingoes on K'gari face fines of $2300.
