The Government has launched a new Be Dingo Safe public safety education campaign for K’gari ahead of an expected influx of tourists to the island for the Easter school holidays.
The campaign will see increased signage and billboards across the Wide Bay region as well as Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service and Butchulla community rangers and officers from the Department of Environment, Science and Innovation community engagement team engaging with tourists across the island.
They will be raising awareness of the wongari (dingoes) and promoting dingo-safe behaviour to people, which includes the correct storage of food, keeping children and young teenagers within arm’s reach and never walking alone.
The new campaign builds upon on a pilot education campaign which was rolled-out on the island during late 2023 and early 2024, and was found to be effective in informing tourists about the dangers of the island’s native dingo population and the need to take steps to ensure their safety.
To help promote the safety of all on the island, the Miles Government is investing an additional $2 million in funding this financial year and an additional $3 million annually ongoing for additional dingo management positions and to expand our proactive Be Dingo Safe messaging.
Additional QPWS and Butchulla rangers are increasing face-to-face engagement and compliance activity with tourists and locals as well as enhancing management and monitoring of dingoes that exhibit threatening and high-risk behaviour.
Safety messaging and communications have also been expanded to include the delivery of additional proactive safety messages at locations where tourists obtain camping permits and at arrival points on the island.
The funding boost followed a number of negative interactions between the island’s wongari and humans, which resulted in some humans receiving injuries.
