Police in the Australian state of Queensland are investigating the death of a 19-year-old woman whose body was found surrounded by wild dogs on a beach in K’Gari (formerly Fraser Island).
The island is a UNESCO World Heritage Site off the east coast of Australia and attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists every year.
Queensland Police said in a news release that the woman was a Canadian citizen and had been working at a backpacker hostel on the island for the past six weeks. They said she traveled there with a friend from her home country.
Police said the woman told people she was going for a swim in the morning around 5 a.m. local time Monday (2 p.m. ET Sunday).
File photo of Australian dingoes digging for food on K’Gari – Sam Brisby/iStockphoto/Getty Images
Just over an hour later, two men driving by discovered her body surrounded by a pack of about 10 wild dogs on a beach near the Maheno wreck.
Police said it was too early to determine whether the woman’s death was caused by dingoes, a species that is native to Queensland national parks and is protected.
Queensland Police Inspector Paul Algie said: “I can confirm that the woman’s body had been touched and disturbed by dingoes, but we have not yet speculated whether this was related to the cause of her death.”
Algie added that while dingoes have important cultural significance to the island’s locals and Aboriginal people, “they are wild animals and need to be treated as such.”
“I plead with anyone who comes to K’Gari, it’s a beautiful place, don’t go near the dingoes, don’t feed the dingoes, let them live their lives and walk around them.”
Algie said the incident had shocked the island’s close-knit local community. “Calgary police officers are Calgary locals. They’ve been talking to local community members throughout the day and as you can imagine, everyone is absolutely shocked and appalled by what happened.”
The woman’s body has been returned to the mainland and an autopsy is scheduled for Wednesday.
Queensland Police said they have notified the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) to contact the victim’s family. CNN has reached out to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for comment.
Hilary Whiteman contributed to this report.
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