Reported sightings of dingoes near Euroka campground in Glenbrook have prompted the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) to carry out a risk assessment but official advice is the area remains safe for daytrippers and campers to visit.
Acting general manager of NPWS Blue Mountains region, Kim de Govrik, confirmed there have been sightings of the animals recently at Euroka.
“We are currently undertaking a risk assessment and we might have that completed in a week or two,” Mr de Govrik said on Thursday.
“There was a sighting of a pack of five dingoes down there about 10 months ago and we’ve had a reported sighting of one there late last year and in the week before Christmas.”
Brenden Charlie Davis had to blink a few times when he spotted what he believed was a dingo at the popular camping ground on December 15.
“Me and my partner were driving in Glenbrook through the national park when we came across a dingo and we notified NPWS,” Mr Davis said.
“It couldn’t be good [for a dingo] to be hanging around a campsite.”
Mr de Govrik said dingoes usually have a light brown coat but could not be identified by appearance only.
“Because they can interbreed with domestic dogs, you really have to do some DNA tests to confirm if an animal is a pure dingo.
“Most dingoes are shy, they stay in the bush and usually move away when they see people around.
“Their favourite diet are swamp wallabies and when they are not around, brush-tailed possums.
“But when people start approaching them or feeding them, that’s when problems can start to happen. We’d certainly encourage people not to feed dingoes because the dingoes will then hang around.”
Mr de Govrik said NPWS already implements dingo control programs involving trapping and baiting on the boundaries of national parks, but usually only in areas close to primary producers and their livestock.
“We don’t have a control program there [at Euroka] but if the risk assessment shows there is an issue, we may take some measures like public education and consider other options.
“But at this stage there is not a problem and it is safe for people and families to visit Euroka and camp there.”
According to the NPWS website, feeding dingoes can alter their behaviour towards humans and possibly lead to aggression.
If you are threatened by a dingo, the advice is to stay calm, keep eye contact, back away and do not run.
