The child was knee-boarding in waters off Fraser Island on Monday, which has the Indigenous name K'gar, when the dog began to circle him (stock image)
The child was knee-boarding in waters off Fraser Island on Monday, which has the Indigenous name K'gar, when the dog began to circle him (stock image)
A 12-year-old boy has been bitten by a dingo in the third incident on a popular holiday island in just two weeks.

The child was knee-boarding in waters off Fraser Island on Monday, which has the Indigenous name K'gari, when the dog began to circle him.

'The boy tried to move the dingo on by yelling and moving his arms but as he stepped back the dingo lunged and bit him on the left knee,' a Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) statement said.

The boy's parents were about 10m away from him at the time, QPWS said.

Rangers are investigating and attempting to identify the dingo.

It's the third incident in two weeks involving children and dingoes on the popular holiday island.

A five-year-old girl was bitten on the thigh after running from a dingo near Wathumba beach on December 10.

The following day, a boy was chased into the water while running away from a dingo.


QPWS said children should be kept under constant supervision and within arm's reach on K'gari.

A series of incidents earlier this year led rangers to euthanise a dingo, which had bitten a woman on the thigh while she was visiting the island in July.

The woman in her 30s was set upon by four native dogs shortly at Orchid Beach.

She was flown to Hervey Bay Hospital in a stable condition with wounds to her limbs and torso after suffering 'multiple bite wounds'.

Earlier that month, an eight-year-old boy was attacked by a dingo who left him with puncture wounds and scratches down his back.

Rangers have rejected calls to cull dingoes on K'gari, blaming visitor behaviour for the spike in incidents.

The service is reminding people to be 'dingo safe': encouraging visitors to walk in groups, camp in fenced areas, and not to run on the heritage-listed island.

They said it was also important to keep all food, rubbish and bait locked up and never to feed the animals.