Dingo attack

Dingo attacks are rare in Australia, and occur most often on young children. However, dingoes are much more of a danger to livestock, especially to sheep and young cattle. The 5,614-kilometre-long (3,488 mi) Dingo Fence was constructed in Southeast Australia to protect the livestock there from attacks.

A dingo on Fraser Island in Queensland.

Wild dogs are fairly large predators, but are much smaller than able-bodied adults and therefore not generally much of a threat to them. However, they can be a serious threat to incapacitated, isolated, outnumbered, or very small humans, especially infants and young children.

Humans and dingoes generally tend to avoid each other. In some situations, however, such as on Fraser Island and some locations in the Northern Territory, close interaction between dingoes and humans, especially feeding dingoes, has led to dangerous habituation and attacks.

Dingo attacks on livestock, however, are fairly common occurrences and a serious concern for the Australian livestock industry.

Cause

The likelihood of wild dog attacks on humans depends to a large degree on how humans behave toward them. The more frequently these dogs are fed or scavenge human leftovers, the more likely it is that they lose all caution and sometimes react aggressively towards humans when they perceive themselves to be in conflict with the human. During a study on Fraser Island dingoes, the researchers reasoned that the presence of humans influences the activity of dingoes. The tourism industry on the island encouraged people to approach dingoes without caution, and such encounters were practically expected by the tourists. People lost their caution when dealing with dingoes more and more frequently, and the number of reported interactions increased. The way the dingoes reacted towards humans was dependent on the way humans behaved toward them. Dingoes tended to show aggressive behaviour when humans fled, and tended to be intimidated when humans consciously or aggressively moved towards them. Humans making submissive postures seemed to cause a neutral or submissive reaction of the dingoes. That dingoes showed aggressive behaviour towards humans seemed to be similarly likely during different times of the year. However, adult dingoes might be more dangerous during the breeding season, and female dingoes especially when they raise their pups.

Even when habituation to humans seems to be the cause for attacks, it is not clear what the ultimate cause for attacks and overall threat towards humans is. It is possible that some attacks result from the "play" of young pups, especially with children. Attacks can also be caused by false reactions of humans to aggressive and dominance behaviour of dingoes. It is assumed that dingoes might have started to regard "human" food sources (garbage cans, leftovers, handouts, etc.) as part of their territory and that attacks on humans can therefore occur because the dingoes see humans as competitors and want to protect their food sources. That some dingoes might regard humans as prey was also deemed possible because humans, especially children, could be theoretically overpowered.[1][2]

Some tourists seemed to be confused by the high numbers of rules in some parks and in some cases have been observed to actively feed the wild animals.[1][2][3][4]

Cases
Pastoralists views on the possibility of dingo attacks in connection with the disappearance of three girls in Brisbane in 1933

In December 1933, when three girls went missing near Mount Coot-tha,[5] the possibility of their having been attacked by dingoes was considered. Local livestock men who live and work among dingoes all their lives, said that they had no direct knowledge of any dingo attacks on humans, but from what they knew of the animal, they reasoned that a dingo would attack a human if starving and the human is defenseless. Some had heard of human remains found scattered by dingoes. Scholarly experts couldn't comment due to contradictory evidence.[6] The three girls were found unharmed two days later. Dingoes played no part in their disappearance.[7]

The first well-documented case of a dingo attack on Fraser Island is from 1988. As early as 60 years before, a newspaper account reported of problems with dingoes. Between 1996 and 2001, 279 incidents with dingoes were reported, of which 39 were assessed as "major" and one as "catastrophic".[3]

Three reports of dingo attacks on humans caused special attention:

  • On 19 August 1980 a nine-week-old girl named Azaria Chamberlain was taken by one or more dingoes near Uluru.[8] Her mother was suspected and convicted of murder. Four years later she was released from prison when the jacket of the baby was found near Uluru. This incident caused much outcry for and against the dingoes. The story was adapted into a film named Evil Angels (also known as A Cry in the Dark) starring Meryl Streep.[9][10] In 2012 a coroner concluded that sufficient evidence existed to confirm a dingo attack as cause of Azaria Chamberlain's death.[11]
  • On 30 April 2001 nine-year-old Clinton Gage was attacked and killed by two dingoes near Waddy Point on Fraser Island. The incident and the following culling of 31 dingoes caused much outcry among the residents. There were many protests and the suggestion was made to erect fences. The incident seemed to have had only a low impact on the tourism industry, and some tourists even felt safer due to the increased presence of rangers.[2][3]
  • In November 2012, a six-month-old dingo known as Inky was killed by rangers on Fraser Island after continued aggressive and dangerous behaviour towards people. The dangerous behaviour included "lunging" at a family, coming out of the bushland at high speed towards volleyball players, and grabbing two tourists on separate occasions with his mouth, not breaking the skin on either occasion.[12] Rangers attempted to trap the dangerous dingo for a month before they were successful. The captured animal was then euthanised.[13] One Dingo advocacy group argued that, as a juvenile, the dingo's aggressive behaviours would be considered normal for his young age.[12] Soon after, Inky's brother Byron was killed by rangers, although his documented incidents never reached the serious Code E level that his brother's had.[14]

Attacks on humans
This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

Below is a partial list of dingo attacks and alleged dingo attacks that occurred in Australia, in reverse chronological order.

Victim(s)DateLocationDescription
Boy, 14 months old 18th of April 2019 Fraser Island, Queensland A Dingo entered a family's camper trailer under its canvas and then dragged the child out while the family was asleep. The screams of the child alerted the father, who gave chase, rescued the child and also scared off a number of other dingos. The child was airlifted to Hervey Bay Hospital with deep lacerations to the back of the neck and head, he also suffered a fractured skull.[15]
Boy, 9, and woman, 24 28 February 2019 Fraser Island, Queensland A 9 year old boy was returning to his campsite from an afternoon swim with his family when they were approached by 2 dingoes and were attacked by them. He suffered serious injuries, including lacerations to his arms, legs and suffered a bite mark to his face. The same dingoes also attacked his 24 year old mother as she tried to protect him, causing "deep injuries" to her arms and legs. Both were airlifted to Sunshine Coast University Hospital.[16]
6-year-old boy 19 January 2019 Fraser Island, Queensland A female dingo and her 3 sub-adult offspring attacked the boy when he ran up a sand dune near the Govi Camping Ground, south of Eurong. He was airlifted to hospital and treated for puncture wounds and scratches to his legs.[17]
Debbie Rundle, 54 18 July 2018 Telfer, Western Australia While eating lunch, she was attacked by three dingos, leg severely injured, torn to the bone requiring major surgery[18]
2 unnamed females in 20s or 30s 26 October 2014 Fraser Island, Queensland Two Australian women bitten while jogging; one of the women was hospitalised[19]
A family, other unnamed tourists November 2012 Fraser Island, Queensland A six-month-old dingo was killed by rangers on Fraser Island after continued aggressive and dangerous behaviour towards people. The dangerous behaviour included "lunging" at a family, coming out of the bushland at high speed towards volleyball players, and grabbing two tourists on separate occasions with his mouth, not breaking the skin on either occasion.[12] Rangers attempted to trap the dangerous dingo for a month before they were successful. The captured animal was then euthanised.[13] One dingo advocacy group argued that, as a juvenile, the dingo's aggressive behaviours would be considered normal for his young age.[12] Soon after the dingo's brother was killed by rangers, although documented incidents for this dog never reached the serious Code E level his brother's had.[14]
13-year-old female 15 July 2012 Jabiru inside Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory Victorian girl woke to a dingo dragging her sleeping bag. She was sleeping on a mattress outside her family's caravan.[20]
3-year old unnamed female 26 April 2011 Fraser Island, Queensland A three-year-old girl was attacked on Fraser Island by two dingoes. She suffered serious puncture wounds to her leg.[21][22]
Adult female 21 April 2009 Stuart Highway near Devils Marbles, Northern Territory Michelle Robson, a nurse who had just left a job at Alice Springs Hospital was travelling with her partner Ihab Hassan when their car left the road and Ms Robson was injured. Mr Hassan moved Ms Robson to the shade of a tree and went to get help. While he was gone Ms Robson had to use a stick to fend off a dingo which attacked her, and was bitten on the hand in the process.[23]
Unnamed 4-year-old female April 2007 Fraser Island, Queensland Young girl severely bitten.[24]
Clinton Gage, 9-year-old male April 2001 Near Waddy Point on Fraser Island, Queensland Clinton Gage was attacked and killed. The incident and the resultant culling of 31 dingoes caused a large outcry among the residents. There were many protests and the suggestion was made to erect fences.[3][2]
3-year-old Norwegian girl April 1998 Fraser Island, Queensland Bitten and scratched by a dingo.[25]
Azaria Chamberlain, 2-month old August 1980 Uluru, Northern Territory Notorious case which gained international attention. Azaria's mother Lindy Chamberlain was initially convicted of murdering Azaria, but was later exonerated. In 2012 the official verdict was amended to state that Azaria was killed by dingoes.

Attacks on other animals
See also: Economic impact of the dingo

Dingos frequently prey on sheep, goats and cattle when they have the chance, which is why the Dingo Fence was built. Cattle are usually quite capable of defending themselves against dog attacks and the losses for cattle owners are therefore usually low, but sheep are extremely vulnerable and their behaviour in the presence of a predator can often lead to surplus killing. Some notable dingo attacks on animals which have appeared in reliable sources:

Name, ageDateSpeciesLocation, comments
Domestic dogs December 2011 dingo Marrara in the northern suburbs of Darwin, Northern Territory, two dogs taken by a dingo or dingoes in two days.[26]
young calf July 2009 dingo Kawana Forest near Caloundra, pair of young dingoes killed the calf[27]
£1000 worth of sheep 1941-8 dingo Tumbarumba, 13yo dingo "weighed 100 lb. and

measured six feet from tip to tip."[28]

at least 1000 sheep 1942 dingo Captain's Flat[29]
200+ sheep 1939 dingo Billa Billa near Goondiwindi[30]
"many sheep" 1937 Alsatian-dingo cross Oranmeir near Braidwood[31]
10 wallabies 1936 dingo Melbourne Zoo[32]
300 sheep 1933 dingo Benalla[33]
sheep, goats, cattle 1924 dingo Lake Nash district, dingoes described as being extremely numerous and troublesome[34]
600+ sheep years before 1916 dingo Between Deepwater and "Dundee River" (Dundee?)[35]

Conclusions

Articles published about dingo attacks blame them on habituation, especially through the intentional and unintentional feeding of dingoes. The more frequently these animals are fed or allowed to scavenge on waste food, the more likely they are to react aggressively towards humans when they no longer receive or find food. It is further thought that dingoes might have started to regard the food sources found (garbage cans, leftovers and handouts) as part of their territory. Attacks then occur with humans seen as competition, and dingoes simply reacting to protect their food supply.

Even when habituation to humans seems to be the general cause for attacks, it is not absolutely clear, and therefore the overall threat towards people is not known for sure. Some attacks might result from the "play" of young pups, especially with children. Attacks can also be caused by mistaken reactions of humans to aggressive and dominant behaviour of dingoes. That some dingoes might regard humans as prey is a possibility, as children or incapacitated adults could be theoretically overpowered.[1][2] Dr. Bradley Smith said that Fraser Island has a problem with humans and not with the dingoes, that dogs who were labelled "aggressive" were simply behaving naturally.[36]

The behaviour of humans might undermine efforts to guard against dingo attacks. Therefore, the change in human behaviour is at the centre of attention. Warning signs like "Beware of Dingoes" seem to have lost their effect on Fraser Island, despite the high number of such signs. Furthermore, some humans do not realise how adaptive and quick dingoes are. Therefore, humans do not remain attentive enough. They do not consider, for instance, that dingoes steal food like fruits and vegetables. In addition, some tourists seemed to be confused by the high number of rules in some parks, and they have been prompted in some cases to actively feed the wild animals.[1][4][3][2]

See also

References
  1. Lawrance, Kate; Higginbottom, Karen (2002). "Behavioural Responses of Dingoes to Tourist on Fraser Island" (PDF). Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 September 2009. Retrieved 3 May 2009.
  2. "Risk Assessment: Risk to humans posed by the dingo population on Fraser Island" (PDF). Environmental Protection Agency. May 2001. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 April 2013. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
  3. Beckmann, E.; Savage, Gillian (June 2003). "Evaluation of Dingo Education Strategy and Programs for Fraser Island and Literature review: Communicating to the public about potentially dangerous wildlife in natural settings" (PDF). Queensland Government. Retrieved 14 May 2009.
  4. Parks and Wildlife Service. "A Management Program for the Dingo (Canis lupus dingo) in the Northern Territory of Australia, 2006–2011" (PDF). Department of Natural Resources. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 May 2013. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
  5. "Three Brisbane girls missing". The Courier-Mail. 11 December 1933. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
  6. "Not man-killer – Australian dingo". The Courier-Mail. 12 December 1933. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
  7. "Missing Girls Found". The Sun. 11 December 1933. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  8. Günther, Janine; Mohr, Jens (2007). Das Northern Territory und weiterführende Routen (in German) (1 ed.). Gamehl: 360°. ISBN 978-3-9809763-2-9.
  9. "Mother jailed in dingo baby murder". BBC-News. 29 October 1982. Retrieved 14 May 2009.
  10. "Little hope for baby girl taken by wild dog at Ayers Rock". The Sydney Morning Herald. 19 August 1980. Retrieved 14 May 2009.
  11. "Australian coroner finds dingo took baby Azaria in 1980". The Guardian. 11 June 2012. Retrieved 12 June 2012.
  12. Walker, Carlie (28 January 2013). "What led to Fraser Island dingo Inky's death". Fraser Coast Chronicle. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
  13. Walker, Carlie (15 November 2012). "Hunt continues for 'dangerous' dingo on Fraser". Fraser Coast Chronicle. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
  14. Walker, Carlie (5 February 2013). "Seven dingoes culled and another 10 have died on Fraser". Fraser Coast Chronicle. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
  15. "Dad fights off dingoes that took toddler from camper trailer on Fraser Island off Queensland coast". ABC Online. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  16. "Dingo attack on Fraser Island sees boy and woman airlifted to hospital". ABC Online. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  17. "Boy bitten by dingoes was 'in wrong place at wrong time'". Nine News. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  18. "FIFO worker Debbie Rundle opens up about violent dingo attack at Telfer minesite". The West Australian. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  19. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-10-26/dingoes-attack-two-women-on-fraser-island-off-seqld/5842290
  20. Crawford, Sarah. "Dogs shot after teen's close encounter". Herald Sun. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  21. "Girl mauled by Fraser Island dingoes". ABC-News. 26 April 2011. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
  22. Cartwright, Darren (26 April 2011). "Dingo attack on girl could have been worse". Brisbane Times. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
  23. Dillon, Meagan (20 June 2013). "Crash survivor attacked by dingo". NT News. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
  24. "Residents blamed for dingo attack". 2007, PM (ABC Radio), Australian Broadcasting Corporation
  25. Jane Duckworth (2009). Not Every Dog Has His Day: The Treatment of Dogs in Australia. ISBN 9780646514376.
  26. McCartney, Damien (13 December 2011). "Dingo threat to suburban pet dogs". NT News. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
  27. Smith, George (13 July 2009). "Dingo attack in Queensland raises fears". news.com.au. Archived from the original on 15 July 2009. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
  28. "Dingo shot at Tumbarumba". The Canberra Times. 30 January 1948. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
  29. "Dingo destroyed at Captain's Flat". The Canberra Times. 15 September 1942. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
  30. "The end of a killer". The Argus. 18 March 1939. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
  31. "Chased dingo in motor-car". The Argus. 18 June 1937. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
  32. "Ten wallbies dead, attacked by dingo at zoological gardens". The Argus. 14 January 1936. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
  33. "Large dingo caught". The Argus. 20 May 1933. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
  34. "Dingo pest". Northern Territory Times and Gazette. 16 May 1924. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
  35. "A dingo with a past". The Advertiser. 27 December 1916. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
  36. Walker, Carlie (5 January 2013). "Island has a problem with people, not dingoes: researcher". Fraser Coast Chronicle. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
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