With over a dozen dingo attacks in 2024, the mayor of one of the nation’s most well-liked family vacation destinations is pushing for a ban on kids camping in some areas of the island.
Fraser Coast Mayor George Seymour said it’s just a matter of time until a child gets seriously injured or worse, as a result of 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 safety after a four-year-old girl was mauled on the island just a week ago.
She suffered puncture wounds to her 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 parents.
Mayor calls for change amid ‘frightening’ string of dingo attacks: sometimes, it’s simply unwitting tourists who make the mistake.
“This is getting to the stage where it is frightening, whether the next one will be a fatality or not,” he told the ABC. “I just don’t think that it is an appropriate place for children to be, given the number of attacks, the changing nature of attacks, and the potential for a fatality here.”
Seymour called for families with children under 12 to be restricted to fenced-in zones of the island, writing to the state government in a formal submission to push the proposed rule change.
Queensland’s Minister for the Environment Leanne Linard said “the risk is not isolated to camping areas”, urging travellers to “remain vigilant on the island at all times.”
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