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A woman was discovered with numerous bite marks and scratches on her body, sending a wave of concern through a nearby camping area.
Campers were jolted awake at approximately 6:30 a.m. as law enforcement and park rangers arrived at the scene.
“There was a knock on our tent from the rangers,” recounted Bryce Neighbour, a camper who witnessed the aftermath. “They were checking to make sure the women we were with were accounted for, as it turned out someone had gone missing.”
“Seeing someone being placed into a body bag was overwhelming,” Neighbour added.
In response, the authorities have temporarily closed off the surrounding camping zones and are urging tourists to remain vigilant.
“At the moment it’s a police matter, and our response to any risk mitigation is increased patrols in the area,” ranger Linda Behrendorff said.
The potential that the island’s iconic predators could be responsible has stunned locals and tourists alike.
“We’ve fortunately come out of a peak period, a holiday period over the Christmas holidays where there were very limited high-risk behaviour from dingoes to visitors” Behrendorff said.
If dingoes are to blame, it would be the first death from an attack in 25 years.Â
Fraser Coast Mayor George Seymour described James’ death as a “massive tragedy”.
“I think that if this is found to be a fatal dingo attack, there will have to be a review of the dingo management strategy,” Seymour said.