Mining authorities are investigating after a fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) worker was mauled by dingoes at Pilbara mining site.

The 52-year old woman is in a stable condition at Royal Perth Hospital  The attack left her with deep wounds to her leg, and puncture wounds everywhere except her head.

The patient said she was flown in for security work at a shut down at the Telfer mine site, in the East Pilbara.  She said she was eating her lunch in a designated safe area when one of the animals grabbed her mobile phone.  She followed it and was attacked by three dingoes, and started screaming for help. 

"It's terrible for this lady, and I would hope it's just one of those freak things that's happened," said East Pilbara Shire President Lynne Craigie, nothing it's the only such attack she's heard of in 20 years.  "We haven't had a reported increase in incidents or reported increase in numbers in dingoes in this shire from the rangers, so hopefully it's a one-off situation.  Certainly one thing to remind people of is that these are wild animals and not to feed them around built-up areas.

The dingoes lived in a the area where they subsist on scraps from people, and they may have lost their fear of humans.

"Sometimes dingoes start to habituate to people, and if they're getting fed by people they kind of lose their fear, then they get a bit more aggressive and assertive to try and get that food off you," said Bradley Smith from Central Queensland University, who holds a PhD in Dingo Behavior and studied the animals around Telfer.  "There are about 100 living around the site which is quite a lot, normally one or two families or packs in the area, but this is quite a number of packs in the small area."