The wild moment two huge red kangaroos brawled in the middle of a busy Queensland campsite has been captured on video.
The footage, captured by Brisbane local Georgia Bryan, shows the kangaroos punching and kicking each other as stunned families looked on.
One kangaroo appears to hold the other in a headlock, before exchanging blows, until one retreats, apparently embarrassed.
‘Welcome to Australia! The damage: a camping table, a tent and a kangaroo ego,” Ms Bryan captioned the images.
Many social media users around the world said they were shocked to see kangaroos behaving so violently.
Brisbane local Georgia Bryan filmed kangaroos punching and kicking each other at a camp in Queensland as stunned families watched
‘The big red kangaroos are the most dangerous, my God, I can’t believe they’re fighting; “They get very aggressive,” one person said.
‘Don’t underestimate these guys; “A tourist was gutted by a big red kangaroo,” added a second.
“The way they swing on their tails is both terrifying and fascinating,” said a third.
According to the Queensland government, all types of kangaroos have the potential to become aggressive and attack humans.
“For kangaroos and wallabies living on the fringes of suburban bushland, a human being may be seen as little more than a large animal living in its habitat, and one from which they occasionally need to defend themselves,” it said.
‘If you see one, stay away from it… and if it approaches you, or shows signs of aggression, stay away, even if it’s just looking for food or human contact.’
Bryan said only “a camp table, a tent and a kangaroo’s ego” were damaged during the fight, which reportedly lasted 20 minutes.
Leading kangaroo researcher Bill Bateman said fatal kangaroo attacks are “very, very rare”.
He said most people will only see them peacefully on the side of the road, but his advice to anyone who thinks a kangaroo is acting aggressively is to get away as quickly as possible, hide behind trees, shout or throw sticks.
“I certainly wouldn’t want to fight an adult kangaroo or even a subadult kangaroo; they are incredibly powerful animals,” he told Albany Advertiser.
Bateman explained that males fight each other by pulling their opponent inward and then kicking him with their powerful hind legs that have long claws.
“If they do that to another person, it’s bad enough, but if they do it to one person, they may break ribs and cause internal damage,” he said.
“Of course, don’t make friends with wild animals: wild animals are still wild animals.”
