Tourists attacked by dingo
Two British backpackers have been attacked by a wild dingo in Australia.
The attack comes three days after a nine-year-old boy was mauled to death by the wild dogs at the same tourist resort.
Queensland state Premier Peter Beattie said both tourists were bitten and scratched when attacked by the male dingo at a camping site on Thursday on Fraser Island.
An Australian boy was killed and his brother was hurt last Monday on the island. The dogs believed to be responsible for that attack were killed on Monday.
The dingo involved in the attack on the British tourists has now been killed as game rangers hunted down dingoes on the island. At least 28 dingoes have been killed since the state ordered a cull after the boy's death.
Mr Beattie said: "That confirms, as far as I'm concerned, the need for the cull that we went through. It vindicates the position we've taken."
One of the British tourists, identified only as Katherine, was bitten on the legs and buttocks after she fell while the dingo was chasing her.
She said it happened so fast she didn't even see the animal lunge at her.
"I don't even know where it came from," she said. The state has already rejected pleas from Aborigines and conservationists to halt killing of the dingoes.
A federal court yesterday rejected appeals to stop the killings. Justice John Dowsett said the Queensland government must ensure the safety of visitors to Fraser Island.
