Terrifying moment: An enraged Roo immobilizes a walker, clawing her leg to the bone in a vicious attack, while issuing an urgent warning to all Australians after surgery.
- A woman was attacked by a kangaroo
- She was trying to rescue her Joey
An angry kangaroo viciously attacked a hiker who was trying to save Joey from the creature that was trapped in a barbed wire fence.
Melanie Stubbs was walking in Sydney’s Blue Mountains when she came across a baby kangaroo in distress and decided to try and help.
Ms Stubbs said her “maternal instinct” kicked in when she saw the helpless creature and tried to free the animal’s legs from the wire.
Footage of the incident shows Joey’s mother frantically jumping over the fence growling.
“We’re trying to help the baby,” Ms Stubbs and a friend can be heard saying in an attempt to calm the worried animal.
Melanie Stubbs (left) was walking in Sydney’s Blue Mountains when she came across a baby kangaroo in distress and decided to try to help.
But Joey’s mother saw the hikers as a threat and charged at the couple while yelling at her to “go away.”
The mother then slipped under the fence and pinned Mrs. Stubbs to the ground as she screamed in terror.
Ms Stubbs said the ordeal was “terrifying”.
“I remember being face down trying to drag myself and I could feel it hitting my back,” he told 9News.
“I was carrying a backpack, so I think it saved my back a bit.”
The roo had severed his leg to the bone and needed surgery.
Ms. Stubbs then developed an infection that forced her to return to the hospital for treatment every day for almost three months.
She said she feels “lucky” to have survived the incident and wants to warn others about the potential dangers of kangaroo attacks.
She said that despite having been raised in Australia, she was unaware that kangaroos were capable of such slimy attacks on humans.
The kangaroo severed Mrs Stubbs’ leg to the bone and required surgery
Joey’s mother saw the hikers as a threat and charged at Mrs. Stubbs, pinning her to the ground.
“I thought, if anything, I would jump over the fence, I had no idea it would hit me,” he said.
Ms Stubbs said she still “liked” kangaroos but was wary of going near one in the future.
In December last year, a resting kangaroo attacked a tourist after she tried to pet the animal while visiting Kangaroo Valley, around 100 miles southwest of Sydney.
Last September, Peter Eades, a 77-year-old Western Australian man, was killed by his pet kangaroo.
Emergency services were forced to shoot the three-year-old male after it prevented paramedics from reaching the owner, who was seriously injured.
The NSW Office of the Environment and Heritage warns that although kangaroos are often portrayed as friendly and cuddly Australian cultural icons, they can hurt people.
The department instructs anyone who feels threatened by a song to move well away and try not to draw the animal’s attention by keeping their head and arms low.
If attacked, one person should drop to the ground and curl up with their hands protecting their face and throat. It is important to try to remain calm and still until the animal is gone.
