A young girl is in hospital with a "nasty" wound after a goanna savagely attacked her at a Queensland beach and refused to let go of her foot.
It took two people to wrestle the lizard off the eight-year-old after it bit her at a beachside camp ground on South Stradbroke Island on Thursday afternoon, Queensland Ambulance says.
"It was a very concerning incident," senior operations supervisor Jayney Shearman told reporters.
"Whilst walking through a camping ground (she) was attacked by a goanna that made quite a nasty laceration.
"It was quite difficult to get the goanna off the child and needed a couple of people to become involved to remove it from her foot."
The shocked child has a deep wound to the top of her foot.
"She was quite distressed ... any wildlife is notoriously unpredictable, so on this occasion, it was a nasty and savage attack," Ms Shearman said.
Volunteer marine rescue helped paramedics take the girl to Gold Coast University Hospital where she remained in a stable condition on Thursday evening.
Experts say goanna bites can be dangerous because the carnivores feed on carrion and toxic bacteria in their mouths can cause pain, swelling and prolonged bleeding caused by bites.
Australian Associated Press
