Tourists fined for taking dingo selfies as conservation officials warn of growing wild dog attacks
Tourists fined for selfie with dingo
Tourists have been fined for taking selfies with dingoes as conservation officials warned against wild dog attacks.
Two hikers who took selfies with dingoes fined over $1,500 for 'extremely dangerous decision' interact with local wild dogs after several brutal attacks, Australian authorities said.
In a statement Friday, Queensland's Department of Conservation Compliance Manager Mike Devery said the two women were lucky they were not attacked in separate incidents on the popular tourist island of K'gary, formerly known as Fraser's Island.
An image provided by the department shows the name of an unidentified New South Wales woman, aged 29, lying next to sleeping dingo puppies. “She was lucky the mother of the puppies wasn't around,” Devery said.
Another tourist, a 25-year-old Queensland woman, appeared in a selfie video posted on social media of her with a snarling dingo “which was clearly exhibiting dominance testing behavior,” he said.
” ;This is not play behavior. Wongari are wild animals and should be, and the woman was lucky that the situation did not get out of control,” he added, referring to the dingo by its root name.
A department update on Friday said a 23-year-old woman was hospitalized with serious injuries to her arms and legs after she was bitten by a dingo when she ran down the island's beach on Monday.
Tourists Shane and Sarah Moffat decided save her, according to CNN Nine News.
“A big piece was taken out of her hand and there were punctures on her legs,” said Shane Moffat Nine News.
The leader of this flock of dingoes was later euthanized, the agency said. However, he was also involved in recent cases of biting that led to the hospitalization of a 6-year-old girl, the agency said.
“From his behavior it is also clear that he is used to people, or because he was being fed, or because people interacted with him for videos and selfies,” the update said.
“Our top priority is to keep people safe at K'gari and preserve the Wongari (dingo) population ), and those who blatantly ignore the rules for social media attention could face a fine or a court hearing,” Devery said.