Packs of wild dogs on Australia’s Fraser Island have merged into one ”superpack” that poses a big risk to the thousands of local and foreign tourists who flock to camping sites their each year, a researcher said on Monday.
The University of Queensland’s Nick Baker said the Fraser Island dingoes have developed a tolerance for each other that is uncharacteristic of their breed. Dingoes usually live and hunt in small packs that defend their territory against other packs.
”But here the whole island is like one big pack, with the smaller groups working together,” Baker told Australia’s AAP news agency.
Three years ago on World Heritage-listed Fraser Island, nine-year-old Brisbane boy Clinton Gage was mauled to death by a pack of dingoes and his seven-year-old brother severely bitten.
They were attacked not far from their family’s campsite.
Baker said a superpack has evolved because of the small size of the island and the abundance of food from campers. There is no longer a need for packs of dingoes to protect their territory from each other.
But Baker said tough measures brought in after the boy’s death are having an effect. There are now heavy fines for visitors caught feeding dingoes. — Sapa-DPA