The Queensland Department of Environment and Science said on Friday the two women had made an “extremely dangerous decision” by taking selfies with dingoes, the wild dogs found on the island continent.
Expensive posts on social media. A 29-year-old woman and a 25-year-old woman have been fined $2,300 after posting pictures and videos on social media of dingoes, the Department of Environment and Science for the province of Queensland in Australia said in a statement on Friday.
“The two women made the extremely dangerous decision to interact with the wongaris (the name given to the dingoes, wild dogs of K’gari, formerly Fraser Island, editor’s note) and that is why they were fined,” commented Mike Devery, a ministry official.
On social networks, young women have published videos in which the dingoes were more or less aggressive. “This is not playful behaviour. Wongari are wild animals and should be treated as such and the woman is lucky the situation has not escalated,” added Mike Devery.
The fear of addiction
Australian authorities have also said that K’gari dingoes mainly live in the Australian bush in the wild and that interactions with humans may lead to their domestication.
“An interaction can be the start of wongari habituation as they lose their natural distrust of humans. Residents and visitors to the island must not treat wongari as cute, hungry or playful animals because wongari will start approaching people for food, which can put wongari and people at risk,” says Linda Behrendorff, a local ranger.
In fact, a dingo had to be caught and euthanized for attacking a 23-year-old woman earlier this week, the ministry said in a separate statement on Friday. The wild animal was also behind the hospitalization of a six-year-old girl. According to the first analyzes by the specialists, the dingo had been fed by humans and had become accustomed to their presence.
“The animal had lost its natural distrust of humans. Entering campsites or loitering around humans is not normal dingo behavior,” the ministry added.
That’s why the tourist island of K’gari has created a device called “Be Dingo-safe!” to raise awareness of animal risks. For example, it is advisable to walk with a cane, to protect children, not to run or even not to approach them.
