Tourists warned to 'stay back' after kangaroo encounter goes wrong
The kangaroo was seemingly unfazed until the woman attempted to stroke it.
A tourist's attempt at getting up close and personal with a wild kangaroo for a picture went disastrously wrong last week, with footage of the encounter being upheld as a prime example of why people should admire Aussie wildlife from a "safe distance" rather than approach them.
The couple from Argentina spotted a kangaroo in Perth and hoped to capture an image of the animal with the sunset in the background. The woman can be seen crouching down behind the roo as it grazed on the grass unbothered by her presence. However, as she started to reposition herself and seemingly tried to stroke it, the kangaroo turned and jumped towards her and pushing her backwards, forcing her to regain her footing after she almost fell over.
The man behind the camera can be heard saying he caught the entire encounter on camera which she later shared online warning others against doing the same thing as her.
Kangaroos can be 'dangerous', advocate warns
The native animals have long been regarded a national icon of Australia and understandably many tourists hope to capture pictures of kangaroos in the wild during their travels. But advocates are urging people to be mindful they can still pose a threat despite appearing cute and approachable.
"It's a really good reminder that kangaroos are wild animals, and they can be dangerous, and they are capable of potentially even inflicting injury on people," Suzanne Milthorpe from World Animal Protection Australia told Yahoo News. "You really need to treat them with respect and caution. Keep a respectful distance for both your safety but also for theirs as well."
The footage showcases a "fairly typical reaction" from a wild animal feeling threatened, with the woman getting off lightly given kangaroos can generate a huge amount of force from their hind legs.
Rise in 'misleading' social media content encouraging behaviour
Milthorpe believes the rise in social media content which features wild animal encounters puts people in a false sense of security. Without context of before and after the content was captured, people are 'misled', believing it is safe to interact with a wild animal in its natural habitat when it's not.
"Unfortunately a lot of people don't know that a large percentage of that [social media content], is actually staged. It's created as if it is spontaneous or something that's happening just naturally in the real world, when it's not. It's best to stay back," she said.
"Our advice is love them from a distance."
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