K'gari (Fraser Island), Great Sandy National Park Butchulla Country Fraser Coast

Critical information for your safety

Critical information for your safety is included in the conditions report—always check it before you visit.

Be inspired: Explore the Sunshine and Fraser coasts—your go-to weekend escapes!

They’re renowned for surf and sun-drenched beaches, and deservedly-so, but take a closer look and you’ll find the Sunshine and Fraser coasts have so much more in store! Photo credit: Adam Creed © Queensland Government

Be inspired: Queensland National Parks’ best-loved camping areas

We are truly a nation of coast dwellers, so when it comes to camping holidays, where do we head? To the water, of course! Photo credit: © Tourism and Events Queensland

Photo gallery

    Photo of a dingo laying in a creek on a beach.

    The K'gari dingo photo gallery features photographs taken during the K'gari dingo population study.

    Photo credit: Queensland Government

    Photos from the population study

    Welcome to the Fraser Island dingo photo gallery. Take time to scroll through the albums of images in the photo gallery and see the seasonal changes in the dingo packs that live wild on Fraser Island.

    Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service has included images that show dingoes of different ages and at different times of the year. These images were selected from a broader image capture from November 2009 to August 2011. The photos provided observational data which formed only one part of the whole data set of a population study that started in 2009. Other sets included data from the satellite tracking project, scat collection and analysis, prey–habitat assessments, images taken by rangers on general duties and other images supplied by the community.

    Some images show dingoes in threatening poses—tail up, ears forward and head bowed—as they test each other's place in the pack. In album 15 the camera captured a violent fight for dominance, which left the dingoes battle-torn and exhausted.

    You'll see dingoes in different stages of development from pups and juveniles through to adults. A handful were fitted with radio collars in 2011 as part of the satellite tracking project, which has now completed collecting data.

    The dingoes on Fraser Island are wild animals that live in packs and hunt freely. The gallery albums show snippets of their lives that cover almost two years of seasonal changes. As a rough guide, the packs' yearly cycles look something like this:

    Autumn (March to May)

    Mating time means dominance testing, fighting for territories and warding off intruders.

    Winter (June–August)

    Pupping time means females are protecting their dens and the whole pack undertakes serious hunting to feed the extra mouths. Unlike domestic dogs, dingoes only have one litter of pups per year.

    Spring (September to November)

    The pups are growing up, staying close to their parents and learning hunting and survival skills from them.

    Summer (December to February)

    Pups are learning pack rules. Their play fights teach them about pack hierarchy and dominance testing.

    Select an album from the photo gallery

    Copyright

    Copyright protects the images in this photo gallery. Except for purposes permitted by the Copyright Act, reproduction by whatever means is prohibited without prior permission from the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, the Department of Environment and Science (Queensland Government, Australia).

    Contact us for enquiries.

    Dingo population estimates

    The Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service undertakes constant monitoring of the dingo population on Fraser Island. The Fraser Island dingo management strategy underpins these monitoring activities. In 2009, the Queensland Government initiated the development and implementation of an extensive Fraser Island Dingo Population Study. This study, to be conducted over a two-year period, commenced in November 2009.

    The results from the Analysis of the preliminary capture-mark-recapture experiment* (Appleby, R. and Jones, D. (2011)), which is part of the Fraser Island dingo population study stage 1, strongly suggests a current population of approximately 200 individuals on Fraser Island (a landmass of 166,000ha).

    Projections indicate that dingo numbers vary depending on the seasons; increasing after breeding and subsequently declining due to natural attrition. Generally, a pack consists of up to 12 animals, but total dingo numbers and pack sizes again vary across seasons and years in line with the supply of vacant territories and natural food sources.

    * Reference can be found in: Fraser Island dingo publications list.

    Related information

    Increased fines for disturbing, feeding dingoes

    It is illegal to disturb or feed wongari (dingo), which includes attracting them with food or food waste. On K’gari an increased maximum fine of $11,500 and an on-the-spot fine of $2,300 now apply to those people who break the law. Be dingo-safe.