Tourists Fined $1,500 Each For Taking ‘Dangerous’ Selfies with Dingoes

Jul 24, 2023

Pesala Bandara

A woman takes a selfie lying next to a pack of sleeping dingo pups. — A woman took a selfie lying next to a pack of sleeping dingo pups.

Two women were fined over $1,500 each for taking “extremely dangerous” selfies with dingoes in Queensland, Australia — following a recent string of attacks on humans by the native wild dogs.

One of the women took a selfie lying down next to a pack of sleeping dingo pups in K’gari, also known as Fraser Island, in Queensland, Australia.

A woman filmed herself interacting with a dingo. — A still from the video in which a woman filmed herself interacting with a dingo.

Meanwhile, the other tourist filmed herself interacting with the dingos and the native wild dogs can be seen behaving in an agitated and aggressive manner in the video.

The pair were caught by authorities following tip-offs from members of the public — after both women reportedly posted images and videos with the dingoes (also known as wongari) on social media.

The two women were fined $2,300 AUD ($1,549 USD) each following an investigation by The Queensland’s Government’s Department of Environment and Science (DES).

Authorities said they “make no apology” for the heavy penalties and the selfies were a blatant breach of “dingo safety” protocol repeated at length in signage and brochures available to tourists on K’gari island.

‘Unbelievable’ Behavior

In a press release shared on Friday, Queensland Department of Environment and Science (DES) compliance manager Mike Devery said that the two women were lucky not to be attacked by the dingoes.

“Both women have made an extremely dangerous decision to interact with wongari and that’s why they have been fined,” Mike Devery, compliance manager for the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service says.

In one image, provided by the DES, a 29-year-old woman from New South Wales, Australia, is seen lying next to a pack of sleeping dingo pups.

“The New South Wales woman has recklessly chosen to approach very closely to three sleeping wongari pups, and she was lucky the mother of the pups wasn’t nearby,” Devery explains.

“Wongari are known for defending their packs and their pups, and it is unbelievable that people would endanger their wellbeing like this.”

The other tourist, a 25-year-old Queensland woman, appeared in a selfie video posted to social media that showed her with a growling dingo.

“The Queensland woman could have been bitten by the wongari, which was clearly exhibiting dominance-testing behavior,” Devery says.

“It is not playful behavior. Wongari are wild animals and need to be treated as such, and the woman is lucky the situation did not escalate.

A Rise in Dingo Attacks

The fines come after an incident earlier this month in which a woman was air-lifted to hospital after being mauled by three dingoes on the island. She sustained “serious injuries to her legs and arms.”