Kangaroo attacks man in Australian floodwaters, 'tries to drown' him in shocking encounter

In a rare and harrowing encounter, a man narrowly escaped with his life after a violent confrontation with a kangaroo in floodwaters on the New South Wales coast, in Australia, BBC reported.

Don James was reportedly walking along a road near Port Macquarie on Friday morning when he was suddenly set upon by a large kangaroo, which witnesses say appeared agitated and aggressive.

The marsupial is believed to have 'tried to drown' Mr. James in a roadside pool of floodwater before becoming startled and retreating.

The dramatic incident unfolded around 9:00am local time as Kristy Lees and her husband were checking local water levels in Port Macquarie’s North Shore following the record flooding that has devastated the region and claimed at least five lives this week.

Lees told the BBC that she had just been warned by two men, including Mr. James, that a “really big” kangaroo was nearby. Moments later, she saw the animal — described as “as big as the car” it stood beside — suddenly charge at her vehicle.

After pawing at the car, the kangaroo turned its attention to Mr. James, who was walking up the road. What followed was an extraordinary scene.

“They literally got into a boxing match,” Lees recalled. “I’m looking in the rear-view mirror and they are throwing punches.”

Mr. James was then seen tripping and falling into a shallow patch of floodwater. The kangaroo seized the opportunity, pinning him down in the water. Lees, realising the man was in danger, urged her husband to get out and help.

“The kangaroo tried to drown the man,” she said. “It had him under the water.”

The ordeal ended only when the kangaroo appeared to be frightened off — possibly by an approaching vehicle driven by a friend of Mr. James. The injured man was able to escape and ran towards the Lees' car for safety.

“The kangaroo was trying to drown me,” Mr. James told Lees after the incident, still visibly shaken. Later speaking with ABC News, he said, “I just remember being under water and kicking and screaming... it was pretty traumatic for a while there.”

While kangaroos are known to defend themselves by luring predators into water and attempting to drown them, such behaviour toward humans is exceedingly rare.

The animal involved is believed to have been disoriented due to the widespread flooding.