The leader of a pack of dingoes that mauled a jogger on a beach in Australia has been put down.
Wildlife authorities said rangers captured and humanely euthanised the animal – which had previously been fitted with a tracking device – on Wednesday.
It comes after Sarah Peet, 23, was attacked by three or four Australian native dogs on Monday as she went for a jog on K’gari, the world’s largest sand island formerly known as Fraser Island, in Queensland.
Authorities have recently ramped up patrols in the area following a string of attacks on humans.
Witnesses said during the mauling the pack forced Ms Peet into the surf, in a hunting strategy the animals use against large prey such as kangaroos.
Tourists Shane and Sarah Moffat were driving along the beach in an SUV when they saw her being attacked and leapt out to help.
Mr Moffat told Nine News TV that he saw two dingoes “hanging off the side of her”.
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“She was walking towards me with a hand up yelling out, ‘Help, help,'” Mr Moffat said. “I could see fear in her face, that she wasn’t in a good way.”
Mr Moffat said he managed to force himself between Ms Peet and the pack leader, before punching the dingo to scare it off – and believes she would not have survived otherwise.
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‘Last resort’
The jogger, from Brisbane, suffered severe bite marks and was flown by helicopter to hospital in a stable condition.
Officials have given no further update on her condition since then, citing patient confidentiality.
The pack leader was one of three dingoes on the island fitted with tracking collars due to their high-risk behaviour, and the second dingo to be killed in recent weeks for biting a human.
Another of the animals was put down in June following separate attacks on a seven-year-old boy and a 42-year-old French woman.
“Euthanising a high-risk dingo is always a last resort and the tough decision by the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service was supported by the island’s traditional owners, the Butchulla people,” officials said in a statement.
Authorities blame the increasing fearlessness of dingoes on the island on tourists who ignore rules by feeding them or encourage them to approach in order to take photos.
Visitors to the World Heritage-listed Great Sandy National Park are warned against running or jogging outside fenced areas because of the risk posed by the animals, which are a protected species.
