Dingoes attack toddler at heritage-listed island
A bunch of wild dogs savaged three-year-old girl after strolling by herself into bushes on a popular Australian tourist island.
According to one of the witnesses, David Law, “They obviously saw her go into the bushes and were opportunistic and made a beeline for her.”
"It's breeding season and they can be quite territorial. They had her on the ground for about five to 10 seconds." Law added.
The child bore bite wounds on her legs after she was set upon by two of the native wild dogs at a beach on Monday afternoon at Fraser Island in Queensland.
Park rangers captured and killed one of the dingoes that was observed to be a three-year-old and was considered extremely huge for its age. The second animal was also seized.
Terry Harper, head of the Queensland environment department, accounted the incident in an interview with ABC radio.
"The dingoes were out of sight in nearby bushes and when the child was away from the adults (they) came in and attacked the child. They managed to bite her several times on both legs before the adults nearby managed to scare the dingoes off," Harper said.
The infant victim of the dingo assault is now recovering in a nearby hospital.
Tracking back to history these Australian wild dogs first came under the spotlight with the disappearance of baby Azaria Chamberlain at Uluru, or Ayers Rock.
Her loss in 1980 made her mother Lindy convicted of murder and her father, Michael, as accessory to the crime. Lindy and Michael claimed that the nine-week-old baby Azaria was taken by wild dogs in the heart of Australia's desert Outback. Azaria’s body was never found.
Their sentence was reversed in 1988 after a piece of Azaria's clothing was found near a dingo den.