Rangers are rejecting calls for a dingo cull at a popular tourist spot in Australia despite a woman being hospitalised after attacked by a pack of the dogs while jogging on a beach.
Rangers said at least three dingoes attacked the 24-year-old while she jogged at Orchid Beach on K'gari island about 9am on Monday (local time).
She ran into the water to escape the pack.
Two men in a four-wheel-drive saw the incident and rushed into the ocean to help, placing the injured woman in the back of their ute and driving her to safety.
She was flown to Hervey Bay Hospital in a stable condition with wounds to her limbs and torso after suffering multiple bite injuries, the Queensland Ambulance Service said.
One of the men injured his hand during the rescue.
Despite the growing number of attacks (seven reported this year so far), rangers have angrily rejected calls to cull the dingo population on the tourist destination formerly known as Fraser Island.
"Culling in the situation on K'gari is not an option - culling for the sake of culling," ranger-in-charge Linda Behrendorff said.
"Our job is to mitigate risk. You need to know the individuals, you need to work with the individual dingoes and you also need to work with the situation that those dingoes are in."
"We have been led to believe that she was running alone initially," Ms Berendorff said.
"We need to work with people that are visiting the island - how not to put yourself in a situation that may lead to a compromising position."
At least one of the animals in the pack was classified as a risk and has a collar with a device to track movement and behaviour.
"It is an animal with high-risk potential about it," Ms Behrendorff said.
"One of the dingoes we have identified has been involved in a previous incident which was involved in contact ... it was lunging with an intent to make contact."
Camera collars have been used to track dingo movements and their human interactions on the island since 2011. They are lightweight and are worn for up to three months, releasing via a timed drop-off mechanism.
The attack is the latest in a number of incidents, prompting safety warnings for visitors.
This includes an eight-year-old boy being attacked on a beach earlier this month and a dingo dragging a 10-year-old boy under water in June.
Rangers attribute rise in attacks to increasing numbers of people defying restrictions to feed and interact with the animals, with 100 to 200 animals estimated to populate the island.
"This is not normal dingo behaviour," ranger Danielle Mansfield after a recent attack.
"We're seeing an increase in habituated animals, unfortunately from people inadvertently or deliberately feeding animals.
"This creates animals who are not wary of people and they are brazenly going up to adults and children and having inappropriate interactions with them."
Rangers reminded visitors to remain vigilant, especially when supervising children.
"There are too many instances where children are not being appropriately supervised - on K'gari, this means children and teenagers must be within arm's reach of an adult at all times."
DINGO ATTACKS ON K'GARI IN 2023
July 17 - A woman in her 20s is flown to hospital with lower body injuries after she was attacked by three dingoes while jogging near Orchid Beach
July 1 - An eight-year-old boy is taken to hospital after being bitten and scratched when his family was approached by two dingoes on a beach at Happy Valley
June 16 - A dingo drags a 10-year-old boy under water during an attack at a camping area on the island's west coast. His 12-year-old sister rescues him and he is treated for puncture wounds and scratches
June - A dingo is euthanised after a string of "high risk" incidents involving the animal in previous months, including biting a seven-year-old boy on June 1 and a 42-year-old woman on June 4
April 3 - A six-year-old girl is treated for head and hand wounds after a dingo bites her while she was swimming in a shallow lagoon at Waddy Point
April - A French tourist is bitten on the buttocks while sunbathing on a public beach
HOW K'GARI VISITORS CAN BE DINGO SAFE
• Always stay close (within arm's reach) of children and young teenagers
• Always walk in groups
• Camp in fenced areas where possible
• Do not run, which can trigger a negative dingo interaction
• Never feed dingoes
• Lock up food stores and iceboxes, even on a boat
• Never store food or food containers in tents
• Secure all rubbish, fish and bait
Source: Queensland Department of Environment and Science
