Australian Rangers could not trace the man-eater Dingo, so far

Ranger patrols are stepping up surveillance on Fraser Island over the Anzac Day long weekend. A couple of days ago, a 14-month-old toddler was dragged by dingoes on Fraser Island. He underwent surgery for a fractured skull and cuts to his head and neck.

The third attack on Fraser Island in less than three months prompted the Environment Minister Leeanne Enoch to issue an urgent review into dingo management on the island. The Department of Environment and Science (DES) said Rangers' attempts to find the dingo had been unsuccessful due to 'a lack of visibility on the night, the limited number of witnesses, and the stealth natures of the dingoes'. While dingoes involved in past attacks have been euthanised due to the risk of them teaching the behaviour to others in their pack, the department said it was only considered as a last resort. The DES said ear tags were often used to identify individual dingoes on the island and to recognize those that 'exhibit' or are anticipated to exhibit problematic behaviour'. "It is estimated that about one-third of the sighted dingo population is untagged, as not all dingoes exhibit problematic behaviour." '

DES said there would be an increased presence of rangers on the island over the coming Anzac Day weekend, to prevent visitor and dingo interactions. "Rangers do know that behaviour shown by the dingoes involved were likely a result of them being habituated with humans, and have learnt to associate humans with food from either being fed by people or from eating food that has not been locked up at campsites." The department has been urging and constantly reminding people to lock up their food, never feed dingoes, camp in fenced areas where possible, secure all rubbish, fish and bait, and not to interact in any way with dingoes as they are wild animals and their behaviours can be unpredictable.