Tourists fined for taking 'dangerous' selfies with pack of dingoes

A woman takes a selfie with a pack of sleeping dingoes. (Handout via Queensland's Department of Environment and Science)

Two women were served hefty fines after taking "dangerous" selfies with a pack of dingoes in Queensland, Australia.

According to Queensland's Department of Environment and Science (DES), the tourists were each fined more than CAD$2,000 after they posted selfies on social media of their antics.

"Both women have made an extremely dangerous decision to interact with wongari (dingoes) and that’s why they have been fined," DES' Mike Devery said in a statement Friday.

One of the women took a selfie while laying on the ground next to a pack of the sleeping Australian native dogs on K’gari, formerly known as Fraser Island.

"The New South Wales woman has recklessly chosen to approach very closely to three sleeping wongari pups, and she was lucky the mother of the pups wasn't nearby," Devery said. "Wongari are known for defending their packs and their pups, and it is unbelievable that people would endanger their wellbeing like this."

The other tourist took a video of herself interacting with a dingo that was showing signs of aggression, according to DES.

"The Queensland woman could have been bitten by the wongari, which was clearly exhibiting dominance-testing behaviour," Devery said. "It is not playful behaviour. Wongari are wild animals and need to be treated as such, and the woman is lucky the situation did not escalate."

The tourists were fined the same week wildlife authorities were forced to kill the leader of a pack of dingoes that mauled a jogger on K’gari. It was the second dingo in recent weeks to be killed for biting and aggressive behaviour.

Authorities blame dingoes' increasing fearlessness on tourists who ignore rules by feeding them or encouraging them to approach in order to post social media images.

--with a file from the Associated Press