The woman, whose identity has not yet been released, was discovered around 6:30 AM local time on Monday (20:30 GMT on Sunday) on K'Gari, an island off the eastern coast of Australia. Queensland police reported the discovery in a statement, News.Az reports, citing BBC.
Two men driving along the beach noticed a group of approximately ten dingoes gathered around an object. Upon closer inspection, they realized it was the body of the woman, according to police inspector Paul Algie, who spoke with local media.
Authorities have launched an investigation into the tragic incident. However, it is still unclear whether the woman’s death was caused by drowning or if she was attacked by the wild animals, Inspector Algie added.
However, Algie said there were markings on the body "consistent with having been touched and interfered with by the dingoes".
"It was obviously a very traumatic and horrific scene for them to uncover," he said.
The woman, who had been working at a backpacker's hostel for the past six weeks, told friends she was going for a 05:00 morning swim, Australia's ABC news outlet reported.
"She was a young woman enjoying a beautiful part of the world, and that's what makes this such a tragedy," Algie said.
A post-mortem is scheduled for Wednesday.
Her body was found near the Maheno shipwreck, which was wrecked and washed ashore in 1935 - its skeletal remains have become a popular tourist destination.
The area is known for its population of dingoes, a wild species of dog protected in Queensland national parks as a native species.
"K'gari is a wilderness area," Algie told local outlets, warning people they should avoid approaching the animals.
"Dingoes are wild animals, and whilst they are very culturally significant to the local First Nations people and to the people that live on the island, they are still wild animals and need to be treated as such."
