A hero dad fought off a dingo who dragged his 14-month-old son from a camper van in the middle of the night.
The family were on a camping trip to popular tourist spot, Fraser Island, Australia, when the boy's parents woke in the middle of the night to sounds of screaming.
The reported hearing the cries "becoming more distant" before realising it was a dingo, a breed of wild dog, carrying their son away.
After leaving the van, the unnamed father said other dingoes were lurking nearby, with the main attacker already having carried the child some distance away, according to Royal Automobile Club of Queensland (RACQ) LifeFlight Rescue.
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It's thought two dingoes managed to enter the family's camper van without them noticing, reports news.com.au .
After chasing the dingo and fighting him off, the father managed to grab his son before calling emergency services.
The little boy suffered a fractured skull and puncture wounds to his neck and head.
Rescuers said the parents quick realisation and the father's quick response saved the boy's life.
Rescue pilot Frank Bertoli said: “If it wasn’t for the parents fighting off the dingo he could have had much more severe injuries.”
“I think he made his way under the canvas to get into the camper trailer.
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“It’s pretty horrific to hear something like that come over the phone and we just wanted to get there to be able to help."
The incident is one of a number of similar dingo attacks this year alone.
In January a six-year-old boy was mauled by one of the wild dogs and a French tourist and her son were attacked last month.
The Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service advises those visiting Fraser Island to “stay very close — within arm’s reach — of your children” and to “never leave children in tents, on beaches or walking tracks without adults; not even for a few minutes”.
If cornered or threatened by one of the dogs, organisation's website advises you to “stand still at your full height and fold your arms across your chest, face the dingo, then calmly back away”
Australia's most famous dingo attack story occurred in 1980, when two-month-old Azaria Chamberlain vanished during a camping trip to Uluru, or Ayers Rock.
Azaria disappeared during the night with her parents Lindy and Michael reporting she had been snatched by a dingo.
Lindy was tried for her murder and found guilty.
After three years in jail, a piece of Azaria's clothing was found near a dingo lair, opening new inquests into the world famous case.
Lindy was released from jail, but the parents only received support from a coroner in 2012.
