A man has been seriously injured in a kangaroo attack on his way to the shops in Queensland’s Central Highlands.
Authorities say the man in his 50s was walking to his car at Willows in The Gemfields near Emerald, 300 kilometres west of Rockhampton, when a large kangaroo attacked him on Wednesday.
A Queensland Ambulance Service spokesperson said the man suffered severe wounds to his chest and deep lacerations to his arms.
He was taken to Emerald Hospital then flown to Rockhampton Hospital where he was in a stable condition.
Willows Rural Fire Brigade first officer in charge Rick Underhill said the attack left “a hell of a mess”.
“I got a message from fire comm asking to assist the Queensland Ambulance with a patient,” he said.
“I sent a crew down to give them a hand and when they got down there … the poor man was in a hell of a mess.
“They assisted the ambos, got him into the ambulance and got him off to hospital.”
Public warnings issued
Mr Underhill said the man had just walked out the front door of his home.
“He came out of his house, walked around to get into his ute to drive up to the shop and there was a buck [male kangaroo] and doe [female kangaroo] there and the doe took off and the buck bloody attacked him and really attacked him in a big way,” he said.
Mr Underhill said the large male was estimated to be 2 metres tall.
There are now public warnings in place for two large male kangaroos in Willows that may pose a danger.
“Normally, the kangaroos in town here are quite pleasant and people feed them and think they’re wonderful,” Mr Underhill said.
“These roos have been around here for years and we’ve never had a problem before, but unfortunately, these two big bucks have taken it in their heads to attack people.”
Central Highlands Regional Council is investigating the incident.