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A man in Australia was reportedly pinned underwater by a muscly kangaroo “who tried to drown him" during an unusual roadside encounter in flood-hit New South Wales one year after surviving great white shark attack.
The man, identified by Australian broadcaster ABC as Don James, was walking along a flooded roadside near Port Macquarie when the kangaroo approached and attacked him. Floodwaters had collected along the roadside following severe flooding.
Witness Kristy Lees told the BBC she watched the confrontation unfold after spotting what she described as a "really muscly" male kangaroo near a parked vehicle while driving with her husband to inspect local flood levels.
"The kangaroo was holding him down," Lees told the BBC, adding that she believed the animal was attempting to drown him.
According to Lees, the kangaroo initially charged toward her slow-moving car before turning its attention to Don James, who was walking nearby.
James and the muscly kangaroo exchanged blows before James stumbled backwards into pooled floodwater.
"The kangaroo tried to drown the man," she said, urging her husband to leave the car and help.
The kangaroo fled after appearing spooked, possibly by another vehicle approaching the scene, allowing James to escape.
James later recalled the ordeal to Australian broadcaster ABC, saying he remembered being submerged in the water while "kicking and screaming."
"It was pretty traumatic for a while there" he said.
Wildlife experts say kangaroos have been known to retreat into water when threatened and may hold perceived predators underwater while defending themselves.
Kangaroo ecologist Graeme Coulson of the University of Melbourne told ABC that the behaviour is instinctive and intended as a form of self-defence rather than a deliberate attempt to drown an opponent.
The incident is unlikely to reassure James, who told Lees he had survived a great white shark attack just 12 months earlier.
"I feel like they're trying to kill me, all these animals," he reportedly said.
