A man has been fined for feeding two dingoes on Queensland’s K’gari, an act which rangers say could set them on the path to habituation.
The 58-year-old Queensland man was filmed by a member of the public on September 7, enticing and attempting to hand-feed the dingoes, or wongari, at Eastern Beach next to Poyungan Valley on the island.
The next day, rangers from the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service tracked the man down and handed him a $2476 penalty infringement notice.
“This man has made a dangerous decision to feed and interact with wongari, and his actions could cause legacy issues on the island,” Manager Compliance Optimisation Mike Devery said.
“It can take one incident like this to set wongari on the path to habituation, and now these wongari have been fed, they might associate people with food.”
Rangers will monitor the dingoes closely to ensure they retain their natural wariness of humans and don’t start approaching people or lingering around camping areas.
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“One wongari that is becoming habituated can influence their pack – this man has fed two of them and we make no apology for handing out fines to people for their irresponsible behaviour,” Devery said.
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“Our number one priority is to keep people on K’gari safe and conserve the population of wongari and this man has potentially put lives at risk.”
Rangers attributed the attacks to people being too familiar with the animals, or acting unsafely around them.
Visitors on K’gari are encouraged to and report any concerning dingo encounters by calling (07) 4127 9150 or emailing dingo.ranger@des.qld.gov.au
