Women fined £1,200 each for taking dangerous selfies with animals
A pair of women have been fined a whopping £1,200 each for taking selfies on an island off the coast of Australia. The duo were handed the fees as the photos were taken with dingoes.
The dangerous animals are an ancient dog-like animal which can kill when agitated. The Australian women were caught after members of the public tipped off authorities.
The government states it makes "no apology" for the costly fee handed over to the women for taking the snaps on K’gari (also known as Fraser Island). It hopes that the penalties will stop other people from trying to interact with dingoes.
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Recently a woman was airlifted to hospital after being mauled by the dingoes on the island. It led to one of the animals being put to sleep.
As such, heavy fines have been attached to those who interfere with the dingoes – also known as wongari.
Mike Devery, compliance manager for the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service commented: "Both women have made an extremely dangerous decision to interact with wongari and that’s why they have been fined.
"The Queensland woman could have been bitten by the wongari, which was clearly exhibiting dominance-testing behaviour. It is not playful behaviour. Wongari are wild animals and need to be treated as such, and the woman is lucky the situation did not escalate.
"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. Wongari are known for defending their packs and their pups, and it is unbelievable that people would endanger their wellbeing like this."
In a photo a woman could be seen lying on the ground next to three sleeping dingo pups. Packs of dingoes have reportedly been involved in giving serious injuries to a young woman in July. A man who rescued her also experienced hand injuries.
A spokesperson for Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service said that one dingo was euthanised from the incident. They added: "It was also clear from its behaviour that it had become habituated, either by being fed or from people interacting with it for videos and selfies. The animal had lost its natural wariness of people, and entering campsites or loitering around people is not normal dingo behaviour."
It’s best not to get too close to wildlife when officials state they are not safe to interact with. Not only can you get hurt, but you also put the animals at risk.
This year, a 10-year-old boy was dragged into the sea by a dingo while another women was bitten on the bum while sunbathing.
The Queensland National Parks website has an entire page dedicated to being dingo-safe on K’gari. It states: "Never leave anything lying around, as dingoes are curious. Even small oversights can make dingoes more fearless. Your actions can make a difference.
"Generally dingoes go about their lives and stay clear of people. Unhabituated dingoes have a natural fear of people and shy away. From time to time, dingoes may come close and some encounters can turn to tragedy. Stay alert and stay calm.
"Dingoes that get their food from people may quickly become aggressive. Do not leave food or food scraps lying around. What may have been an easy steal from your unattended food, can lead to dingoes harassing other people for food—sometimes aggressively."
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