AUSTRALIA: A girl was attacked by a dingo on Australia’s K’gari-Fraser Island on Tuesday.
The dingo “tried to grab her and kept her under the water for a few seconds,” according to rescuers, as the primary school-aged child was swimming.
She was rescued from the dingo by nearby family members, although she suffered bites to her head and fingers. Before being taken to the hospital in stable condition, paramedics attended to the girl at the site, according to the BBC.
The LifeFlight air ambulance reported that the crew was called at 16:40 local time on Monday. The dingo approached from behind and grabbed the girl by the head, according to Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS), who thought she was swimming in a small lagoon.
According to a statement from QPWS, the animal involved is believed to be an untagged male, and rangers are looking into the incident. The statement said, “QPWS expresses its sympathies to the victim and her family and wishes her a rapid recovery.”
Almost 200 wild dingos live on K’gari-Fraser Island in Queensland, a well-liked tourist site with a World Heritage designation. As per law, feeding them is strictly prohibited, and offenders face severe fines.
After another beach attack the previous year, a five-year-old boy was evacuated to the hospital with bites on his head, arm, and buttocks.
In Australia’s first fatal dingo attack since the 1980 disappearance of nine-week-old Azaria Chamberlain at Uluru-Ayers Rock, a nine-year-old child was slain in 2001 near a campsite on the island.
