CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA – Wildlife authorities in Australia have euthanized the leader of a pack of dingoes that attacked a jogger on K’gari, a popular tourist island off Queensland’s coast. The victim, 23-year-old Sarah Peet, was mauled by three or four dingoes while jogging along a beach. Prompt action by wildlife rangers and intervention from tourists Shane and Sarah Moffat likely saved Peet’s life.
The dingo pack leader was the second dingo on the island to be euthanized recently due to aggressive behavior towards humans. Authorities attribute the dingoes’ increasing boldness to tourists feeding them or encouraging close encounters for social media pictures.
K’gari is known for its purebred dingoes, as domestic dogs are banned from the island. However, human-dingo interactions pose risks, and visitors are cautioned against running or jogging outside fenced areas to avoid potential chases by the animals.
The Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service monitors social media and imposes hefty fines on tourists who breach wildlife rules to take selfies with dingoes. The government is exploring measures to coexist safely with the protected species on the island.
Efforts to protect both visitors and dingoes remain essential as authorities aim to maintain a balance between tourism and wildlife conservation in the World Heritage-listed Great Sandy National Park.
Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service monitors social media to impose fines that can be as high as 12,000 Australian dollars ($8,191).
Two tourists had recently been each fined AU$2,300 ($1,569) for getting too close to dingoes to “get selfies and videos,” Environment Minister Leanne Linard said after visiting the island in response to the attack.
The women, aged 29 and 25, were only caught because they posted the images on social media.
One woman had videoed three sleeping dingo pups.
“I’m sure they were very cute, but there would have been a mother nearby and any mother will defend their child and their babies really voraciously,” Linard told Australian Broadcasting Corp.