Knowing how to be dingo-safe on K’gari is important for your safety, that of future visitors and dingoes. Know your dingo do’s and don’ts before arriving on island to ensure your K’gari adventure is a safe and enjoyable one.

Dingoes are pack hunters. They are apex predators in the island’s ecosystem and need to be treated with respect and safety in mind. They should never be confused with domestic pets and do not obey commands from people.

The best thing you can do for the dingo is to keep them living wild and appreciate them from a distance.

The Queensland Government works in partnership with the Butchulla Traditional Custodians to increase safety, education and compliance measures on K’gari.

Understanding K’gari dingo behaviour

The K’gari dingo plays a key role in the island’s ecosystem, which is why it’s important for them to maintain their natural hunting skills and remain wary of people.

The island provides a diverse range of natural prey for dingoes to hunt and eat, including small reptiles, bandicoots, echidnas, bush rats, wallabies, berries, fish and other dead marine life that wash ashore. Read more about what dingoes eat and why they are skinny.

K’gari dingoes are protected as a native species by law.

Feeding dingoes (including leaving food or food scraps where they can get them) can cause them to become dependent on human food sources and they may become aggressive towards people in search of it.

Dingoes’ natural behaviour fluctuates through the year. In autumn and summer, they become more aggressive, competing for pack dominance and food. Find out more about the K’gari dingoes and their seasonal behaviours.

Know your dingo do’s and don’ts

Follow these top tips to reduce your risk of a dingo attack and help keep dingoes wild:

1. Do keep kids within arm’s reach

Dingoes may be closer than you think, and they move quickly. Children cannot be relied upon to know or remember what to do if threatened by dingoes. Stay very close—within arm’s reach—of your children and teenagers to reduce your risk of a dingo testing their dominance with your family.

2. Do carry a safety stick

Always carry a safety stick (such as an umbrella, hiking pole, or something similar) to deter dingoes from coming too close.

3. Do keep your distance from dingoes

Stay at least 4 car lengths (20 metres) away from dingoes.

4. Do dispose of rubbish correctly

Keep rubbish in a locked, airtight container or in your car, and use fenced waste transfer stations to dispose of your rubbish or alternatively take it home when you leave. K’gari is a World Heritage Area and taking your rubbish with you will not only keep the dingoes wild but help to protect K’gari’s pristine wildlife.

5. Don’t run

Running or jogging can attract a dingo’s attention and trigger their instinct to chase. People running on K’gari have been threatened and bitten by dingoes. Always walk to reduce your risk of a negative interaction.

6. Don’t be alone

Dingoes are natural hunters and can stalk people. Walking or sitting alone at any time you’re outside an unfenced area on K’gari increases your chance of being threatened by a dingo. Always walk in groups to reduce your risk.

7. Don’t feed or interact with dingoes

It’s an offence to feed or make food available to a dingo, including intentionally attracting or disturbing a dingo anywhere on K’gari. Always keep food, cooking, cleaning and fishing items locked up or in your car. Dingoes are attracted to anything with a scent. Secure your storage and iceboxes with heavy-duty straps. Never store food items in your tent.

8. Don’t bring food or have picnics on the lake shore or beach

This puts you at the dingo’s level and can encourage them to steal your food. Fines apply if you break the rules.

Download guide for how to be dingo-safe (PDF, 8.6MB) .

For families with children or teenagers

Extra vigilance is required for families holidaying with children and teenagers.

It’s strongly recommended that families with children under 14 years camp in a fenced campground to keep them safe.

Remember to always keep children within arm’s reach. It could be helpful to practice activities at home that keep your children within arm’s reach before you get to the island.

Never leave children unattended in tents, at beaches or lakes, or on walking tracks without adults—not even by a few metres or for a few minutes.

Remind children not to run, jump or clap hands in the vicinity of dingoes as this can excite the dingo and trigger their hunting instincts.

Download the children’s activity booklet (PDF, 5.7MB) and dingo activity sheet (PDF, 2.9MB) to help kids learn how to be dingo-safe on K’gari.

• View further information about dingoes and children

How to respond to a dingo interaction

Dingoes may be closer than you think—even if you can’t see them. How you react when approached by a dingo matters.

If approached by a dingo:

1. Be big and brave

Make yourself look large and dominant. Use your safety stick to keep the distance between you and the dingo. If a dingo is acting aggressively, you can tap the stick on the ground or use it to flick sand at the dingo until it leaves.

2. Face the dingo—Never turn your back

Keep your arms close to your body. If you’re next to someone, stand back-to-back.

3. Yell ‘HELP’ and ‘din-go away!’. Be loud

Be confident and call for help. Yelling ‘dingo!’ will alert others in the area so they know how to respond appropriately.

4. Calmly back away

Move to your car or a fenced area. If there is no safe space to back away too, stand your ground and continue calling for help. Dominance testing can go on for a long time.

5. Tell a ranger

Report your interaction to a ranger by calling (07) 4127 9150 or email dingo.ranger@des.qld.gov.au.

In an emergency, call Triple Zero (000).

Report any interactions that involve a dingo circling, lunging, nipping, biting, or chasing you, and if you witness them tearing tents or stealing property, to a Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service ranger on the island.

Be dingo-safe when camping and fishing

Camping

• Choose a fenced camping option, such as Central Station, camping area, Cornwells camping area, Dundubara camping area, Eli camping area, Lake Boomanjin camping area, One Tree camping area, Wongai camping area, or Waddy Point top camping area. See the K’gari (Fraser Island) fenced camping area map (PDF, 3.1MB) .
• Keep your camp site boring for dingoes. Leave nothing lying around or flapping about that they can steal or tear at. Dingoes will seek out anything scented, including toiletries, utensils used for cooking and even dirty clothes.
• Never leave food in tents or in open boxes under tarps. Dingoes will rip through tents to get at what they think smells like food, including shampoo and toothpaste.
• Keep transfer stations tidy.
• Fenced areas with bulk bins are available for campers to put their rubbish in. Please keep them tidy. Loose rubbish can pollute the island and attract dingoes and other wildlife.
• Avoid bush toileting and use the toilets provided instead. If you must go to the toilet in the bush, dig a knee-deep hole and when finished, cover your waste (including toilet paper) immediately. Never bush toilet alone, especially at night.

Fishing

• Store bait and fish in shoulder bags or vehicles, not in beach buckets.
• Clean fish away from camp sites—cleaning fish in camp sites is prohibited.
• Keep berley and fish remains in sealed containers—not hung on tents or bull bars.
• Bury and cover your fish remains in a hole, at least knee-deep (50cm deep) from the top of the remains, just below the high tide mark when dingoes are not around. If the hole is shallower than this, the dingo can dig it up.
• Help stop dingoes associating food with fishers—bury fish remains when they are not around.
• Avoid a fine and stay safe around dingoes. Fines apply for feeding or disturbing a dingo on K’gari. Maximum fines of $26,614 and minimum on-the-spot fines of $2,580.
• Failing to store food in a way that prevents access by a dingo or making food available to dingoes, including leaving fish scraps unburied can be costly. Maximum fines of $6,452 and minimum on-the-spot fines of $483 are in place for those who break the law.
• Download the K’gari tide times calendar (PDF, 926.3KB) to take to the island with you.

Read further information about fishing on K'gari.