Police save drowning kangaroo in dramatic water rescue

  • 29/10/2018

Australian police have saved a drowning kangaroo, dragging it out of the water in the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria.

The officers were called to the beach on Saturday afternoon and found the male kangaroo struggling to stay afloat and had blood and froth coming from its nose and mouth. 

When Sergeant Christopher Russo and Senior Sergeant Kirby Tonkin arrived at the beach they both knew exactly what they had to do and raced into the water. 

Police save drowning kangaroo in dramatic water rescue
Photo credit: Victoria Police

"We jumped in and swam out to him, by the time we got there blood and froth were coming out of his nose and mouth, so the kangaroo was definitely in the middle of a drowning event," Sergeant Russo told Fairfax Media.

"The public had called for help, a number of agencies came to assist with a kangaroo on the beach. The kangaroo had been out in the water and was quite distressed."

Sergeant Russo resuscitated the kangaroo, giving it compressions on its side, using the same techniques he learnt to resuscitate his pet dog when it was hit by a car. 

Once the kangaroo could breathe on its own, officers wrapped it in a blanket and took it back to the station where it was rehydrated with an IV drip and cuts to the nails of his feet were treated with antibiotics. 

Newshub.