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AAP
AAP
Environment
Laine Clark

Child bitten in latest dingo attack at popular island

A girl bitten by a dingo is the fifth incident in a month involving dingoes and children on K'gari. (HANDOUT/QUEENSLAND GOVERNMENT – DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT AND SCIENCE)

A girl has been taken to hospital with "significant" leg wounds after being bitten by a dingo at a popular Queensland tourist spot.

It marks the second dingo attack in as many weeks at Fraser Island, which has the Indigenous name K'gari.

Queensland Ambulance Service said a primary school-aged girl was transported to Gympie hospital in a stable condition on Friday.

"She had significant lacerations to her leg," a QAS spokesperson told AAP.

The girl has since been transferred to Sunshine Coast University Hospital.

Dingoes on K'gari.
Rangers warn visitors to K'gari to not approach dingoes. (HANDOUT/QUEENSLAND GOVERNMENT – DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT AND SCIENCE)

Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service said rangers are attempting to identify the dingo.

They said the young girl was swimming near adults when a dingo bit her multiple times. 

QAS said the incident occurred near Hook Point on the island about 12.30pm.

It is the fifth incident in a month involving dingoes and children on the island.

Last week a seven-year-old girl was bitten after her mother tried to take a photo of a dingo.

The mother got out of their car for a picture but didn't realise her daughter had also exited the vehicle.

The girl ran when she became frightened after the dingo approached her and was bitten on the thigh.

On December 10, a five-year-old girl was bitten on the thigh after moving away from her group and running from a dingo near Wathumba beach.

The next day, a boy was chased into the water by a dingo after he ran from the animal.

A week later, a 12-year-old boy was bitten on the leg while his parents were about 10m away.

A series of incidents in 2023 led rangers to euthanise a dingo that had bitten a woman on the thigh while she was visiting the island.

Rangers have rejected calls to cull dingoes on K'gari, blaming visitor behaviour for a spike in incidents.

Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service have urged people to be "dingo safe" by walking in groups, camping in fenced areas and not running on the heritage-listed island.

Children should be kept under constant supervision and within arm's reach on K'gari.

QPWS said it was also important to keep all food, rubbish and bait locked up and never to feed the animals.

The Queensland government invested an additional $2 million this financial year to help boost public safety on K'gari.

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