In an extraordinary turn of events, a man in Australia found himself in a life-threatening encounter with a powerful kangaroo, which reportedly attempted to drown him in floodwaters. The incident, unfolding near Port Macquarie, has drawn widespread attention, highlighting the unpredictable nature of wildlife in the region.
Don James, the individual at the center of this remarkable confrontation, was engaged in a physical altercation with a large male kangaroo when the marsupial allegedly held him submerged in a patch of water accumulated by recent flooding. His harrowing escape was attributed to the kangaroo suddenly becoming unsettled, allowing Mr. James to break free.
Kristy Lees, a witness to the unfolding drama from her vehicle’s rearview mirror, recounted the surreal experience to the BBC, stating, “It’s not every day a big, male kangaroo decides to take you on… Even in Australia, you do not expect to see it.” Ms. Lees speculated that the kangaroo, visibly distressed, might have been disoriented and trapped in the area due to the unprecedented flooding that had ravaged New South Wales earlier in the week, claiming five lives.
The sequence of events began around 09:00 local time on Friday (23:00 GMT on Thursday) when Ms. Lees and her husband were driving to assess water levels in Port Macquarie’s North Shore. They were alerted to the presence of an unusually large kangaroo by two men, one of whom was later identified as Don James by the Australian news network ABC. The animal, described as “as big as the car” it stood beside, soon engaged Ms. Lees’s slow-moving vehicle, appearing to attack it.
However, as the kangaroo moved around the car, its attention shifted to Mr. James, who was walking away up the road. The marsupial gave chase, leading to a confrontation. Ms. Lees described the scene as a “boxing match,” observing in her rearview mirror as both Mr. James and the kangaroo exchanged blows.
The struggle escalated when Mr. James, moving backward, tripped and fell into a floodwater-filled depression at the roadside. It was at this point that Ms. Lees witnessed the kangaroo holding him down. “The kangaroo tried to drown the man,” she asserted, realizing the gravity of the situation and urging her husband to intervene. Fortunately, the kangaroo seemed to be startled, possibly by an approaching vehicle driven by Mr. James’s friend, creating an opportunity for him to escape and reach Ms. Lees.
A visibly shaken Mr. James conveyed to Ms. Lees, “The kangaroo was trying to drown me,” a claim she could corroborate. He later confided in ABC, “I just remember being under water and kicking and screaming and carrying on.” He characterized the experience as “pretty traumatic for a while there.”
While the notion of a kangaroo attempting to drown a human might seem extraordinary, experts note that kangaroos have been observed employing similar tactics, primarily against predators the size of dogs. Graeme Coulson, a kangaroo ecologist from the University of Melbourne, informed ABC that a neighbor of his had tragically lost two dogs in this manner. Professor Coulson explained that kangaroos possess a strong instinct to retreat to water when threatened by a predator. However, he emphasized that this behavior is more likely a self-preservation mechanism rather than a deliberate attempt to drown their adversary.
This scientific explanation is unlikely to diminish the traumatic impact of the encounter for Mr. James. Adding to the remarkable nature of his recent ordeal, Mr. James reportedly told Ms. Lees that this incident followed another harrowing experience just 12 months prior, when he had fended off an attack by a great white shark. Reflecting on these seemingly targeted encounters with dangerous wildlife, Mr. James is reported to have exclaimed, “I feel like they’re trying to kill me, all these animals.”
