Another beach visitor photographed the wild dog heist, revealing the culprit had a distinctive leg that was mainly white.

This led officials to eventually track down the canine crook, which allegedly had a history of such thievery.

Officials say they were forced to administer a single rifle shot to put the dog down because it had become dangerously aggressive. But wildlife experts say attacks on humans by dingos are rare.

The British woman’s valuables were not recovered.

“It was established that this animal had been the subject of numerous complaints in the prior three months, jumping onto barbecues in the van park and approaching and stealing things from people,” said Port Stephens inspector Matthew Maroney.

The Australian dingo often lives around sandy areas near bodies of water.

Biologists call it an “apex predator,” meaning it has no known rivals in the wild. The dingo is a protected animal in Australia, with certain habitats designated for pure dingos that have not interbred with other types of wild dogs.

Photo: File