A video of a pack of dogs attempting to attack a large eastern gray kangaroo has revived the urban myth that “kangaroos drive dogs into the water to drown them.”
Disturbing footage captured a kangaroo standing in a stream while four dogs barked at it from the bank.
Suddenly, a black dog ran forward and lunged at the kangaroo, only to be knocked down. The other dogs then charged at the dog, but none of them tried to bite him.
After forcing the kangaroo to go to the other side of the small stream, the dogs backed away and returned to their owner, who was filming nearby.
Many Australians expressed concern about the dogs’ welfare, with one falsely claiming that “kangaroos take dogs into the water to drown them.”
But this theory was quickly debunked by a leading kangaroo expert, who said kangaroos only defend themselves in self-defense.
‘Kangaroos do not lure dogs into danger, they retreat to the water as a last resort to defend themselves from attack. “They’re just fighting back in self-defence, and that’s clear from the video,” said Alyssa Wormald of the Victorian Kangaroo Association. Yahoo News.
A kangaroo (pictured) fought off a pack of dogs, but an expert warned the stress of the attack alone could have killed it.
Wormald condemned the owner for failing to keep his dogs away from the kangaroo.
He said a dog bite would be enough to kill the native creature.
‘It is very disturbing to see this magnificent kangaroo retreating into the water in terror. The saddest thing is that if he suffered a single bite, he will probably die slowly from the infection,” he said.
“If that doesn’t kill him, he will most likely die of stress myopathy.” Male kangaroos look big and tough, but they are like all kangaroos: fragile and easily stressed.’