Incredible footage captured by a local woman has shocked residents who were left stunned after seeing a kangaroo swimming in the lake at a popular park.
The unusual scene was witnessed at Lakeside Park in Pakenham, Victoria, which is popular among locals and tourists alike. A tiny head with pointy ears can be seen floating above water near a flock of ducks.
“Kanagroo in the lake. Gotta beat the heat somehow,” the woman captioned the video shared on Facebook on Sunday with temperatures of mid to high 30s sweeping the state.
But while some looked on in wonderment, with one saying it was “amazing” to see, concern swept over others. Some questioned how or why the land-dwelling animal ended up in the water to begin with.
The poster revealed the marsupial managed to get out safely after a quick swim. “He jumped out of the lake, crossed the road safely and hopped away,” she said. Another noted, “Kangaroos actually can swim if they need to”.
While it’s not a common sight, it’s true kangaroos are no strangers to water, as reported by Yahoo news previously.
Kangaroos are capable swimmers, despite being land animals
Last year, an Aussie camper captured a mob of roos bouncing into a lake at a campground in Noosa, Queensland. Animal rescuer Craig Thomson, who works for international organisation Kangaroos Alive, told Yahoo he had never seen anything like it.
He said they “tend to head to the water to escape a threat” but it’s not always the case. Also last year, a kangaroo was chased into the ocean by two dogs at Torquay Beach in Victoria. It appeared distressed in video footage shared online.
The kangaroos appeared to hop into the middle of a lake in Noosa. Source: TikTok/@sazzletoc
Wildlife Rescue Sunshine Coast founder Claire Smith agreed that while kangaroos “are not designed to swim,” they are more than capable and could actually swim quite well.
“They will cross bodies of water that aren’t too wide if they’re motivated enough to get from one grazing area to another,” Smith told the ABC previously.
“Or they will get in the water to get out of the way of danger. Danger usually is something like dogs, or it could be people.”
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