Canadian woman found dead on popular Australian beach surrounded by wild dogs

Authorities were trying to determine Tuesday whether a Canadian woman found dead on a popular Australian beach had been killed by dingoes, wild dogs native to the country.

The 19-year-old woman was found on Monday on a beach on K’gari, formerly known as Fraser Island. Police said the dingoes had “interfered” with his body.

But police did not speculate on the cause of death, saying her body had been discovered 90 minutes after she went for a morning swim on the world’s largest sand island off the coast of Queensland state.

Police were called to the beach near a shipwreck, a popular tourist attraction, at 6:35 am. Two men were driving a van along the beach when they saw around 10 dingoes near the body, the police inspector reported. Paul Algie said.

“It was obviously a very traumatic and horrible scene for them to discover,” Algie told reporters.

“I can confirm that there were marks on her body consistent with having been touched and interfered with by the dingoes,” he added.

A post-mortem examination of the remains to determine the cause of death is expected to be completed on Wednesday.

“We simply cannot confirm whether this young woman drowned or died as a result of the dingo attack,” Algie said.

The woman had been working in a tourist accommodation on the island for about six weeks.

A spokesperson for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police confirmed to CBC News that they are aware of the investigation in Australia. “We were saddened to learn of the loss of this young man, and our hearts go out to the family and everyone affected,” the spokesperson told CBC News.

Local mayor George Seymour told 9News the last fatal dingo attack on the island was 25 years ago and there had been “an escalation of aggressive dingo activity” in recent years.

“A big part of what (the rangers) do is try to separate the dingoes from the humans, but we still have this dingo situation, and in some ways it’s inevitable that there will be a death, given the number of bites and attacks that are happening over the years,” Seymour told 9News.

Three years ago, a pack of dingoes mauled a 23-year-old jogger in an attack that police said was near-fatal. The dogs had pushed the woman into the waves before a tourist came to her rescue and chased away the dingoes. Police said the man had saved his life.

Around 200 dingoes roam freely in K’gari and are a protected native species in the World Heritage-listed national park.

Younger animals have become more aggressive and less fearful of humans since tourists returned in large numbers following the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2023, two Australian women were fined about $1,500 for taking selfies and videos of themselves posing with dingoes on the island.