A two-year-old boy has been attacked by a dingo on Fraser Island after wandering out of a home while the rest of the family was asleep on Saturday morning.
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Rockhampton residents are being warned to close their windows and doors with Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service and Partnerships conducting planned ground and aerial burning within Goodedulla National Park.
This operation is scheduled from Monday 19 April 2021, weather permitting, as part of the annual hazard reduction/conservation management program for parks and forests.
As a result, smoke may be seen in the Goodedulla and Glenroy areas.
Smoke may be visible in these areas over several days as fire moves around within containment lines.
The aim of this burning is to reduce the volume of forest fuels and to create a mosaic pattern of burnt and unburnt areas.
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UPDATE, 12.10pm Neighbours have come to the rescue after a toddler was attacked by a dingo while playing outside a house at Orchid Beach on Fraser Island. It is believed the child, who was holidaying with his family, had been playing outside a home when neighbours heard a commotion, according to a statement from RACQ Lifeflight. They reportedly went to investigate and saw a dingo attacking the toddler. The neighbours intervened and emergency services were called, the spokesman said. As they were flying towards Orchid Beach, the crew from the Lifeflight Rescue helicopter was talking to the child s father on the phone and advised him to drive his son to the nearby helipad.
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Subscriber only A pack of dingoes living in and around Orchid Beach have been influenced by people who were feeding and interacting with them. That was the frustration expressed by Queensland Parks and Wildlife ranger Linda Behrendorff, who said the latest attack on Fraser Island, in which a two-year-old boy was bitten on the neck, head and body, showed what happened when dingoes became habituated. In the lead up to the attack, observations had been made that the dingoes at Orchid Beach were larger than they should be for their age, with many being juveniles. She said it was not helpful to feed the animals, which only encouraged them to come into the township, where they did not belong.