'It could have killed me': Woman attacked by protective kangaroo mother while bushwalking
NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA: While Australia is known for being a prime location to see kangaroos, one tourist's anticipated encounter with the marsupials ended in a negative experience. A bushwalker, Melanie Stubbs, said she was lucky to be alive after a harrowing moment with a protective kangaroo mother in the Blue Mountains. The Sydney-based mom and her friends were bushwalking in the Megalong Valley near Katoomba with friends in December they stopped to help an injured joey stuck in a fence before the kangaroo attacked her.
"We thought, 'we'll try to free the baby'," Stubbs told 9 News. But then, the rescue was quickly derailed by the protective kangaroo mother when she went on the defensive and began acting aggressively. In the horrifying footage filmed by one of the women in the group, Melanie can be seen being knocked to the ground by the kangaroo as it charges at the group when she was trying to release the "poor" joey which was hanging from a wire fence by its back legs.
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'It could have killed me'
In the video, the kangaroo creeps up beneath the fence and leaps at Melanie while reaching out its arms. “She came under the fence and reared up with her claws spread,” she told 9News. “The next thing I remember was I turned over onto my tummy and I was trying to crawl away and I’m yelling, ‘Help me’.... she was pounding on my back. It was awful," Melanie recalled. One of her pals attempted to use a hiking pole to fend off the kangaroo, but by that time the kangaroo had already slashed her leg open with its claws. Melanie's calf muscle was left "hanging off" her leg after the kangaroo severed it to the bone. She was eventually freed from the kangaroo by the group, who then flagged down a car on a neighboring road to take her to the hospital. She required urgent surgery after being transported to the hospital. The kangaroo may have killed her if it had clawed at more crucial organs, according to her doctors. “It could have killed me,” she said. It would be more than two months before she could go back to work since the wound eventually developed an infection.
'I didn't know kangaroos could attack'
Now the 58-year-old woman is warning others about the dangers of kangaroos in light of her "horrendous" experience. "I grew up in Australia and I didn't know kangaroos could attack so I figured other people might not know that either," she said. According to the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), people's perceptions about kangaroos are frequently incorrect. "Kangaroos are often portrayed in the media as friendly and cuddly Australian cultural icons. They can hurt people, however the risk of being attacked by a kangaroo is very low," it said. If they perceive people to be a threat to their babies, kangaroos may attack.
The NPWS recommended people stay away from feeding kangaroos and keep an eye on kids while they are around. People who come across hurt kangaroos or other wildlife can contact the animal rescue organization WIRES, which will either advise them on what to do or show up directly, Yahoo News reported.
