Dingo Safety 101
Dingo safety is a big topic as of late. With the amount of interactions increasing on K'gari, it seems as though all of a sudden there are a seemingly endless amount of dingo experts. And while I certainly do not claim to be an expert myself, I have spent a considerable amount of time in dingo country trying to capture them in the most natural setting possible.
Before I jump into my advice for safely living on or visiting dingo Country, I wanted to share a story. There is an area that I have filmed and photographed dingoes for many years now that is popular with campers. The campsites are all very well sign posted with information and rules about dingo safety and the rangers do an exceptional job at ensuring the dingoes and the visitors safety. However, earlier this year I saw what I can only describe to be the stupidest and (potentially) most dangerous encounter I had ever witnessed first hand.
Dingoes sense of smell is incredibly acute.
I was laying in the dunes watching a dingo approach from easily over 1km away. What started as a tiny speck in the distance quickly became clear as day. This was a dingo that I have been fortunate enough to photograph before and is an incredibly calm and curious dingo. A man was walking with his child who I am guessing would have been between 2-3 years old. They were walking towards the ocean alone just the two of them. I was relieved to see him carrying the child in his arms and not leaving him on the sand to walk. The dingo suddenly realised they were there and began to approach them. She kept her distance but followed behind them quite some way. The man seemed calm and unfased which was also good to see. Eventually, they made it to the shoreline where the man proceeded to put his child on the edge of the water and go for a swim leaving his child alone with a full grown dingo maybe 30m away from his 3 year old child. Naturally, every alarm bell in my body began to go off and a sick feeling washed over me.
A dingo with a child's nappy.
The child wasn't scared of the dingo - I assume he must have had a pet dog and was calm around animals. As I started walking towards the child, he took off his nappy and started waving his arms around which obviously excited the dingo. A small child, all alone, waving an interesting thing that has strong smells; it was as if someone had written a guide on "how to increase your chances of a dingo encounter 101". I approached the child who had thrown his nappy at this point and the dingo had run off with it tearing it to shreds. Finally, the father came out of the water and made an off-the-cuff comment along the lines of "Wow that was exciting". I was speechless. He grabbed his child as if nothing ever happened and walked back to the campsite.
Human negligence and complacancy often leads to dingoes being killed.
Now I am sure if you have made it onto this website, you already know how incredibly neglectful and irresponsible this mans decisions were. But what should you do if you are visiting a part of Australia that has a lot of dingo activity? Here are my suggestions;
Do not under any circumstance ever feed a wild dingo. There are no "what if" situations that I would encourage anyone to feed a wild dingo. The reality is a fed dingo is a dead dingo. If a dingo is comfortable around people, they will eventually test their boundaries and this has disastrous consequences for the dingo. Dingoes are not starving. They are naturally lean and their hip bones and ribs should be visible. Remember, they are not dogs. They are dingoes and will act accordingly.
Always keep children at arms length in dingo territory. Dingoes are not mindless killing machines with their hearts set on eating your children; despite what you have been told your whole life. But they are opportunistic hunters and by leaving your children unattended in dingo territory, you are putting the dingo and your childs safety at risk. If you don't want to have your child within arms reach at all times, holiday somewhere else.
Lock all of your food away when it is not being eaten. Dingoes are incredibly strong and intelligent and will see your attempt at hiding food as a challenge that it is only a matter of time until they solve. If you think dingoes cant get into your locked Esky, I have news for you! They can and will. Always keep your food and rubbish locked inside your car or caravan. As much as I believe and have witnessed first hand how intelligent dingoes are, I am yet to hear of any that have figured out how to unlock cars and doors. We still have some time before Jurrasic Park becomes a reality.
If you are approached by a dingo, do not wave your arms and yell at them. This will only encourage their hunting response and excite them; especially in areas like K'gari where they are loosing their fear of humans. Instead, stand tall, maintain eye contact, cross your arms and slowly walk backwards away from them. Whatever you do, do not run. I have run many kilometres with two rescue dingoes tied around my waist and it is like something clicks in their brain whenever we start running. They are both incredibly docile and gentle animals, but as soon as we start running, they are hyper fixated, hyperaware and very stimulated.
5. Do not go anywhere in dingo territory alone. Regardless of your age and size, a dingo will be much more confident when there is only one of you. Being pack animals, they know that there is strength in numbers and a group of people is far more intimidating than a lone individual.
6. If you want to take photos or videos of dingoes, bring a zoom lens. "But how can you say all of these things when you have videos and photos of wild dingoes?". Excellent question metaphorical commenter. To break the fourth wall, my camera and skills do some of the heavy lifting when it comes to my work. I use a 150-600mm lens on 99% of the photos and videos you have seen of dingoes. The vast majority of the time I am filming, I am hiding in bushes well over 100m away from the dingoes. And even from that distance, I then crop in on the videos and photos because of the additional resolution the cameras are capable of. I always try to keep as much distance between myself and the dingo as physically possible even if it means I miss a shot. The dingoes safety is always my number one priority and it should be yours too.
Shooting with a 150-600mm lens at 8k allows me to crop in even further on subjects that are far away.
If you follow these simple rules, I can almost guarantee that you will not have a problem with wild dingoes. I have been tracking, filming and photographing dingoes for years and have never been in any danger from them. I have never been approached or threatened in any way; quite the contrary actually. Dingoes are only a threat to your safety if you do not respect them and their space. So, next time you are in dingo territory, keep your wits about you. Keep scanning the horizon for dingoes on the move and for the thousandth time; DO NOT FEED THE DINGOES.