Man fined for feeding tagged dingo on K’gari
Issued: 2 Jun 2021
Two Penalty Infringement Notices (PINs) have been issued to a man who allegedly fed a dingo and for not having a vehicle access permit (VAP) while visiting K’gari (Fraser Island) at the weekend.
On Saturday (May 29), a tourism operator allegedly witnessed a person feeding bread to a tagged dingo at Eli Creek and called a Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) ranger.
A Queensland Police Service (QPS) officer who was in the vicinity of Eli Creek spoke to the alleged offender and obtained witness statements from the tourism operator.
The QPS officer and ranger later obtained further witness statements.
On June 1, the QPS officer issued a $2135 PIN to the man for allegedly deliberately feeding a dingo, along with a $200 PIN for taking a vehicle into a recreation area without a permit.
QPWS would like to thank the tourism operator who witnessed the alleged feeding for providing a timely report to rangers.
QPWS would also like to thank the QPS officer for their prompt assistance in this matter.
Visitors and residents on K’gari are reminded that QPWS rangers or QPS officers don’t have to be present for a person to be fined for dingo offences.
This incident is another example of residents, visitors and tour group operators providing information, photos and videos to authorities when people feed dingoes.
QPWS rangers and QPS officers take these matters extremely seriously and have zero tolerance for people who intentionally feed or interfere with dingoes.
People who feed and interfere with dingoes put themselves and other people in danger, and QPWS rangers will hold offenders accountable.
Anyone who deliberately feeds or interacts with dingoes or fails to secure their food and rubbish can expect a fine or to appear in court.
Dingoes on K’gari are not starving and have access to plenty of natural food. Feeding dingoes can result in the animals becoming habituated, and they can lose their natural wariness of people.
People are encouraged to remain vigilant and report any concerning dingo encounters to a QPWS ranger or phone 07 4127 9150 or email dingo.ranger@des.qld.gov.au as soon as possible.