In southwest Australia, a man who may have been keeping a wild kangaroo as a pet was murdered by it, according to authorities on Tuesday. According to reports, it was the first kangaroo assault to result in death in Australia since 1936.
A relative discovered the 77-year-old man on his farm Sunday in semi-rural Redmond, 250 kilometres southeast of Perth, the state capital of Western Australia, with “severe injuries.”
The kangaroo, which police shot dead because it was impeding paramedics from getting to the wounded guy, was thought to have attacked him earlier in the day.
The statement said that the kangaroo “was presenting a continuous hazard to emergency responders.”
Man passed away there and then. A coroner will record an official cause of death after reviewing the police report, which is being prepared.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation identified the guy as local alpaca grower Peter Eades.
Police suspect that the wild kangaroo was kept by him as a pet.
The keeping of Australian native animals as pets is prohibited by law, but the police media office said on Tuesday that it was impossible to know if the victim had a licence.
Kangaroo keeping licences are seldom issued by the government in Western Australia, according to Tanya Irwin, who looks with macropods at the Native Animal Rescue agency in Perth.
This seems to be an adult male, and they may be rather aggressive and fare poorly in captivity, according to Irwin.
“Unfortunately… they’re not a nice animal, they’re a wild animal,” Irwin said. “We don’t know what the circumstance was; If he was in suffering or why he was held in captivity.
Irwin said that her rescue facility always treats native animals with the intention of releasing them back into the wild, especially kangaroos.
You do need a special permission to be able to do that, and she added that they probably don’t hand them out very often unless you’re a wildlife facility with knowledgeable staff.
The southwest of Australia is home to many western grey kangaroos. They may reach heights of over 4 feet and weigh up to 120 pounds. They are herbivores that consume certain shrubs and coarse grasses, according to the Perth Zoo.
The males may be hostile and engage in conflict with others using the same strategies they use with one another. They wrestle with their opponent using their small upper limbs, support themselves with their powerful tails by leaning on them, and then strike with both of their strong clawed rear legs.
Many people mistake huge male kangaroos for peaceful grazers, but in actuality, the Queensland Department of Environment and Science states that they “may be hostile toward humans.”
According to the BBC, a kangaroo attacked a 67-year-old lady in Queensland in July, leaving her with injuries and a fractured leg. A three-year-old child was attacked in New South Wales in March, and she had severe brain injuries.
A 9-year-old kid was mauled by a kangaroo in 2017 at an Alabama zoo.
Years after being attacked by a kangaroo, William Cruickshank, 38, passed away in a hospital in Hillston, New South Wales, on the east coast of Australia.
When Cruickshank tried to save his two dogs from a huge kangaroo, he sustained severe head injuries, including a fractured jaw, according to an article in The Sydney Morning Herald at the time.
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