The attack happened in the early morning (local time) on fraser island, the world’s largest sand island about 1000 kilometers north of sydney. According to the national park administration, the 23-year-old had previously left his campsite and lost his bearings. He would then fall asleep alone on a path.
The young man was flown by helicopter to a hospital in the state of queensland. "His condition is stable," said a spokesman for the local health authority. He will not have to stay too long in the hospital. He could not say anything about the exact identity and origin of the german.
"This incident serves as a reminder that dingoes are wild animals and must be treated as such," said the local chief of the national park service, ross belcher. At the same time, he called on people to heed his department’s wild dog warnings. So the animals should not be fed in any case. After the attack on the german, rangers increased their patrols in the area.
On fraser island, a nine-year-old boy was killed by two dingoes in 2001. His brother, two years younger, was injured. In 1980, a little girl died in central australia after a wild dog dragged the baby out of her parents’ tent during a camping vacation. Police initially blamed the mother for the child’s death. She was imprisoned for murder, but was later acquitted. The final verdict in the spectacular case was not reached until june of this year.
The dingos, which are about the size of sheepdogs, do not belong to the native animals in australia like kangaroos or koalas. According to scientists, the sand-colored quadrupeds were introduced by either native peoples or seafarers from southeast asia around 3500 to 4000 years ago.