Kangaroo 'tries to drown' man in Australian floodwaters

The kangaroo is suspected to have been trapped by rising waters (stock image)

A "really muscly" kangaroo "tried to drown" a man in Australia, after the two got into a punch-up.

Don James is said to have found himself fighting for his life as the marsupial held him down in floodwaters which had pooled on the side of the road near Port Macquarie - only escaping after the animal appeared to become spooked.

Kristy Lees, who watched the battle unfold in her rear-view mirror, told the BBC: "It's not every day a big, male kangaroo decides to take you on... Even in Australia, you do not expect to see it."

She suspects the "very distressed" kangaroo had become trapped in the area following the record flooding that hit New South Wales this week, leaving five people dead.

Ms Lees was first alerted to the kangaroo's presence as she drove down to check the water levels in Port Macquarie's North Shore with her husband, at about 09:00 local time on Friday (23:00 GMT on Thursday).

Two men - one of whom was later identified as Don James by Australian news network ABC - warned them that there was a "really big" kangaroo just around the next parked car.

And sure enough, there was the kangaroo - "as big as the car" it was standing next to.

The next thing Ms Lees knew, the kangaroo had launched towards her car, which she had slowed to a crawl so as not to startle the animal, and started to attack it.

But as he moved round to her side of the car, the kangaroo appeared to spot another target: Mr James, who was still walking away up the road.

The kangaroo gave chase.

"They literally got into a boxing match," Kristy said. "I'm looking in the rear-view mirror and they are throwing punches."

Mr James then ran backwards before tripping and falling into a patch of floodwater by the side of the road.

The next thing Kristy knew, the "kangaroo was holding him down".

"The kangaroo tried to drown the man," she said. "I realised what was happening and told my husband [who couldn't see the fight from his seat] to get out the car and help."

But then the kangaroo appears to have been spooked - perhaps by the approaching car driven by Mr James's friend - allowing him to escape down towards Ms Lees, who has since tried to warn as many neighbours as possible.

"The kangaroo was trying to drown me," he told Ms Lees, who was able to say she had seen it all.

"I just remember being under water and kicking and screaming and carrying on," Mr James later told ABC.

It was, he said, "pretty traumatic for a while there".

Kangaroos have been known to appear to attempt to drown their foes - although these are usually animals the size of dogs.

Kangaroo ecologist Graeme Coulson, from the University of Melbourne, revealed to ABC that his neighbour had lost two dogs that way.

"There's a very strong instinct - kangaroos will go to water if they're threatened by a predator," he told the news network.

However, he said, the behaviour is likely more about protecting themselves than drowning their foe.

That is unlikely to make Mr James feel any better about Friday morning's altercation - especially as he told Ms Lees that just 12 months ago he had fended off another attack, that time by a great white shark.

"I feel like they're trying to kill me, all these animals," he reportedly said.

The BBC has attempted to contact Mr James for comment.