The mayor of one of the country's most popular family holiday destinations is calling for a ban on children camping in certain parts of the island following more than a dozen dingo attacks in 2024.
Fraser Coast Mayor George Seymour said it was only a matter of time before a child was seriously injured or worse in an encounter with a dingo on K'gari, formerly known as Fraser Island. He said children under 12 should be banned from camping in unfenced areas for their own safety after a four-year-old girl was attacked on the island just a week ago.
She suffered stab wounds to the chest and was the 16th child under the age of 17 to be attacked by a dingo on the island this year alone. Seymour said the situation had become “frightening” for the parents.
Mayor calls for change amid ‘frightening’ series of dingo attacks
Sometimes it is simply unsuspecting tourists who make the mistake.
“It's gotten to the point where it's scary whether the next attack is going to be fatal or not,” he told the ABC. “I just don't think this is an appropriate place for children to be, given the number of attacks, the ever-changing nature of the attacks and the potential for a fatality here.”
Seymour called for families with children under 12 to be restricted to fenced areas of the island and wrote a formal letter to the state government to enforce the proposed rule change.
Queensland Environment Minister Leanne Linard said “the risk is not limited to campsites” and urged travellers to “remain vigilant at all times while on the island”.
K'gari is a World Heritage-listed sand island on Queensland's south-east coast, about 250km north of Brisbane. An estimated 400,000 people visit the island each year, with visitors to the Fraser Coast region expected to spend $730 million in 2022-23, according to Queensland Tourism data.
Although dingoes, known to Aboriginal Australians as wongari, are synonymous with the island and a large part of its appeal to visitors, having to constantly keep an eye on children is “not a pleasant experience,” argues Seymour.
Dingoes are part of K'gari's appeal, but caring for children is “no fun”
Speaking to Yahoo News Australia, a spokesperson for the Department of Environment and Science urged people on the island to report dingo incidents to authorities immediately.
“Reports from the public of interactions with wongari are important as they provide rangers with information about potentially endangered animals,” the spokesperson previously said. “Rangers use the information to keep people safe by monitoring endangered wongari and spreading the message 'Be dingo safe!' in certain areas.”
Seymour argues that he would prefer families to vacation elsewhere rather than risk their safety.
“When families go there, they are told that they must keep an eye on their children at arm's length at all times – it is not a pleasant experience for the children or the parents,” he said.
“If there is a reduction, and I think there must be a reduction, in the number of people camping [on K’gari]”It's a good thing,” he said. “My concern is for the safety of children and the preservation of wilderness.”
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