Dingoes Didn't Get Away With It - This Time

When I locked myself out out of the Mt. Glorious house in 2006 and had to walk through the early-morning darkness seeking help, the housewife I approached seemed surprised that I wasn't afraid of dingoes. I was surprised she was surprised. The idea of getting attacked by dingoes so close to Brisbane seemed alien. Too primal for the modern era!

Then again, maybe it's not such an alien idea after all:

Australian rangers found and killed two dingoes believed to have mauled a three-year-old girl as her family was preparing to board a ferry following a camping trip on Australia's Fraser Island.

The dingoes, wild dogs native to Australia, attacked the girl and dragged her by the legs Monday after she wandered away from her family and into the sand dunes on the island in northeastern Queensland.

Witnesses watched as the dogs attacked the little girl, yelling for the child's parents and for the dogs to scatter, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

"I was running and yelling and screaming and pointing at these people behind the dune," witness David Law told the network. "I finally got their attention and pointed behind, and one of the men ran over the dune, and scared the dog off the little girl."

The family has not been identified. The two dogs were reported found and destroyed.

Some 200 dingoes are believed to live on Fraser Island, a national park and popular camping destination near the Australian city of Brisbane. The island is home to one of the last groups of purebred dingoes, which are a protected species under Australian law.