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 kneeling in the waters off Fraser Island, which goes by the indigenous name K'gari, on Monday when the dog began circling him.
“The boy tried to move the dingo by shouting and moving his arms, but as he stepped back the dingo lunged and bit him on the left knee,” a statement from the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) said.
The boy's parents were about 10 meters away from him at the time, QPWS said.
Rangers investigate the dingo and try to identify it.
The child was kneeling in the waters off Fraser Island, which has the indigenous name K'gar, on Monday when the dog began circling him (stock image)
It is 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 on December 10 after running away from a dingo at Wathumba beach.
The next day a boy was chased into the water while running from a dingo.
QPWS said children at K'gari must be kept under constant supervision and within easy reach.
A series of incidents earlier this year led rangers to euthanize a dingo that had bitten a woman on the thigh when she visited the island in July.
The woman in her 30s was recently attacked by four native dogs 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'.
It is the third incident in two weeks involving children and dingoes at K'gari (photo)
Earlier that month, an eight-year-old boy was attacked by a dingo, leaving stab wounds and scratches on his back.
Rangers have rejected calls to cull dingoes at K'gari, blaming visitor behavior 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 run on the heritage island.
They said it was also important to keep all food, waste and bait locked up and never feed the animals.