Very Dangerous Liaisons.(Wildlife in Australia)(Brief Article)

Two decades ago no one believed Lindy Chamberlain when she claimed a dingo had snatched her baby from a campsite in central Australia. She was vilified, convicted of murder and sentenced to life--before being released four years later, when the child's jacket was found outside a dingo lair. Last week her story seemed even more plausible. On Fraser Island, a World Heritage nature site off the Queensland coast, 9-year- old Clinton Gage was mauled and killed by the primitive dogs; his father and younger brother were attacked when they tried to recover his body. Police quickly cleared out other campers and killed the animals thought to be responsible.

The tragedy may have been an accident waiting to happen: after years of being fed by backpackers, the dingoes on Fraser have lost their fear of humans. And that dangerously close interaction between man and beast is being repeated across Australia, as ecotourists range farther afield in search of a wilderness that remains vast, untamed and highly unpredictable. "Dingoes are not the only danger. There's funnel-web spiders, poisonous snakes. It's certainly well known not to swim on the eastern beach--the sharks are on that side," says Donna Ebsary, a Fraser Island guide. "There are many dangers going to Fraser, but that's probably one of the major attractions for people."

Those dangers are increasing, to the point where tourists may have to rethink how they vacation Down Under. Australia already has the most venomous snakes and ...