Rogue tourists who feed dingoes on Fraser Island could be fined more than $10,000 as government bids to crackdown after toddler was dragged from his bed
- The maximum fine for feeding a dingo has doubled to $10,444 in Queensland
- Feeding dingoes emboldens them around humans, the state government said
- A 14-month-old baby had surgery after being dragged from a camp by dingoes
- He suffered a fractured skull and puncture wounds from the Fraser Island attack
- The boy's parents woke to noises of the child, who was dragged by the head
- It is the ninth attack on Fraser Island and third this year. A boy was killed in 2001
- Do you know the family? Email nic.white@mailonline.com
People who feed dingoes could cop fines of more than $10,000 after a toddler was dragged from a camper trailer on Fraser Island.
The Queensland government has doubled the maximum fine to $10,444. The minimum fine is now more than five times what it was and stands at $2088.
More fenced camping sites will also be created on the island, and a major education campaign run to help improve visitor safety.
Environment Minister Leeanne Enoch said people must understand that feeding dingoes emboldens them, and increases risks for humans.
The Queensland government has doubled the maximum fine to $10,444. The minimum fine is now more than five times what it was and stands at $2088 (stock image)
'Increasing fines for those who deliberately disturb dingoes or feed them sends a very clear message about how dangerous the practice is,' she said.
Work is underway to identify sites for new fenced areas at locations not accessible to dingoes.
Rangers have increased patrols and fined six people over the Easter school holidays for not properly securing food.
A 14-month-old boy needed surgery earlier this month after a dingo dragged him from his camp bed, leaving him with a fractured skull and puncture wounds.
One of the dingoes bit the boy's neck and began dragging him into the bush by his head before his father heard his screams and fought the dogs off.
The boy was airlifted to hospital by RACQ LifeFlight Rescue after he was attacked by the dingoes on Fraser Island, Queensland
The boy was treated by paramedics stationed on the island before an RACQ LifeFlight helicopter arrived about 2.30am on Friday
The father looked outside then heroically confronted the dingoes and rescued his child before chasing some of the pack away.
'He was apparently grabbed around the back of the neck area and dragged away,' the pilot Frank Bertoli told reporters at the time.
'If it wasn't for the parents fighting off the dingo he could have had much more severe injuries.'
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The dingoes were believed to have crawled underneath a canvas flap over the doorway and taken the boy as he slept.
'I think he made his way under the canvas to get into the camper trailer,' Mr Bertoli said.
'It's pretty horrific to hear something like that come over the phone and we just wanted to get there to be able to help.
The boy was bleeding heavily but was in a stable condition in Hervey Bay Hospital by morning. He was later transferred to Queensland Children's Hospital in Brisbane
He suffered a fractured skull, puncture wounds to his neck and head, and cuts on his legs, scalp and body in the attack
'They said that the main dingo was surrounded by others.'
The boy's four-year-old sister was also sleeping in the campervan near their parents when the dingoes entered.
The boy was treated by paramedics stationed on the island before an RACQ LifeFlight helicopter arrived about 1.40am on Friday.
The boy was bleeding heavily but was in a stable condition in Hervey Bay Hospital by morning. He was later transferred to Queensland Children's Hospital in Brisbane.
The latest incident is an eerie reminder of a case which captivated Australia in 1980, when Lindy Chamberlain's nine-week-old baby Azaria was taken by a dingo in the Northern Territory
Paramedic Ben Du Toit advised visitors to avoid dingoes and never to venture out on the island alone.
There have been nine dingo attacks on Fraser Island in the past 20 years, and the third this year after a six-year-old boy Michael Schipanski was mauled in January.
A month later, two tourists including a nine-year-old boy and his mother were attacked as they tried to run back to their vehicle.
Research indicates that more than half of dingo attacks occur when the victims are running away, as the animals 'chase' response is triggered.
'Wildlife authorities recognise that Fraser Island dingoes may become the purest strain of dingo on the eastern Australian seaboard and perhaps Australia-wide,' the Queensland Department of Environment and Science website states.
The last person to be killed by a dingo on the island was in 2001 when Clinton Gage, nine, was killed and his brother mauled.
He is one of only two people ever killed by dingoes in Australia, and sparked the culling of 31 dingoes on Fraser Island that outraged residents.
'On Fraser Island, they have become used to tourists as tourists tend to feed them. This has led to dingoes lurking around camping areas,' one local said earlier this year.
Recent visitors to Fraser Island claimed dingoes were appearing more often and in greater numbers than in the past.
'We are on Fraser at the moment and there are so many around compared to past trips,' one said.
Fraser Island is home to about 200 dingoes who travel in packs of up to 30.
The latest incident is an eerie reminder of a case which captivated Australia in 1980, when Lindy Chamberlain's nine-week-old baby Azaria was taken by a dingo in the Northern Territory.
Azaria Chamberlain case
Azaria Chamberlain, nine weeks, was taken on August 17, 1980, by a dingo while her parents Lindy and Michael slept.
Ms Chamberlain was accused of killing her child and jailed for life after a murder trial in 1982, spending more than three years behind bars.
She was not exonerated until a piece of Azaria's clothing was found near a dingo lair. She later received $1.3 million in compensation.
More than 32 years later in 2012 a coroner finally officially ruled that a dingo had killed Azaria, not her mother.
Azaria's body was never found and the scrap of clothing that cleared her mother was the only sign of her.
The case remains one of the most famous in Australian history and is the subject of numerous books, films, and documentaries.
Azaria Chamberlain, nine weeks, was taken on August 17, 1980, by a dingo while her parents Lindy and Michael (pictured with a photo of Azaria) slept
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