Man punches kangaroo to save his dog

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2...dog-australia/

lol thats a classic

The guy's definitely a hero. Those Roos are vicious, and that dog wouldn't have stood a chance.

The bloke did what he had to do, and once that Roo started squaring up to him he basically needed to thump it to assert his authority otherwise the Roo would have gone for him, and when they kick they do a lot of damage.

I don't know why the "all animals are fluffy bunnikins" brigade are up in arms about it. Roos smack each other around a lot harder in the wild than that punch. I doubt the roo got so much as a cut lip from that.

I've got to say though, that that is the most Australian thing I've ever seen.

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...allegedly.

nah, he wasn't holding a tinny

One good kick from the roo and it's claws could have easily ripped out the guy's innards.


Although, I'm still a bit skeptical---just the way the roo reacted to the punch, and how the guy squares up. It wouldn't shock me if this turns out to be some sort of fake viral video.

That did cross my mind as well, but in the absence of any proof that it's fake I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt.

Aren't kangaroos considered to be vermin? I.e. big footed, pouched rats?

What about the boar they later killed and his terminal ill friend which passed away?
Please have some respect.

It's how we treat everything annoying down there. Roo, shark, man, just boof em on the nose.

come on, it is not like what happened to Harambe the gorilla.

it is just two animals resolving an issue.

And the endangered birds, fish, marsupials, and various plants that the boars are threatening to extinction!
Very meta indeed!

I think the dog started it... poor lil kangawoo

Not necessarily, kangaroos are notorious for getting drunk and starting trouble..

I'm not an Aussie but to me this sounds like an urban myth.

Apparently you're way more likely to be killed in a car crash caused by a kangaroo rather than killed or even very severely harmed by one attacking you (attacks on small children don't count).

if an adult male kicks you then its pretty much over for you, just do a quick google

Could be, I really can't find a lot of good actual evidence.


But a documented defensive tactic is disemboweling dogs with the hind legs-if it works on a dog, it could probably work on a human.


Quick search has the power of a kick at up to 80 kgf. Coupled with sharp claws, I would wager that could easily tear open some human's belly.


It does seem that actual humans killed by roos are very rare.


EDIT - From the OP's article:
"The guy's very lucky because he could have been killed,"
"If the kangaroo had done that to the guy it could have disemboweled him,"
-NATO Science Postdoctoral Fellow, Large Animal Research Group, Cambridge, UK
So no, definitely not an urban myth.

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and its not just there feet

So everything someone with some degree says is correct by definition? Bullshit!

How many injuries by roo, let alone kills, does the national statistics bureau register each year?

how many people punch a roo in the face annually ?

Kangaroos have huge and sharp claws on their feet, and they use their feet in (sometimes fatal) breeding fights with other males, and as self-defence vs any other animal of a threatening size. They are quite capable of severely injuring or killing a person if they felt threatened enough. It's just basic physics of an animal of that size, strength combined with the natural weapons it has.

As for recorded kangaroo attacks... http://www.amazingaustralia.com.au/a...oo_attacks.htm