An Australian man was forced to save his dog from being drowned by an aggressive kangaroo in a river in a moment that has shocked the internet.
Footage of the dramatic incident was posted on TikTok by Mildura Martial Arts school in Victoria and quickly went viral - amassing 33.5 million views since it was posted on Sunday afternoon. It is unclear when the video was filmed.
The video shows the kangaroo holding the dog down just above the water before the dog's owner can then be seen sprinting into the river to save his dog.
The man can be heard swearing and saying " "I'm going to punch you f*****g head in. Let my dog go".
The video goes on to show the kangaroo lunging at the man. with its arm and claws visible, before the video goes to black as the camera goes underwater.
The footage then shows the kangaroo standing tall in the water staring at the man, with the dog safe by the bank.
The owner of the dog, former Victoria police officer Mick, told Sunrise on 7News the incident was "a bit surreal".
"I got to the edge of the river and the dogs were really quiet and usually they're in the water," Mick said.
"I did a few stretches against a tree and then realised I hadn't seen Hutchie for a few minutes. I looked over towards the water and saw a kangaroo basically with his arms in the water just staring at me, it was a bit surreal."
Mick couldn't believe what he was seeing and realised very quickly he would have to go into the river to save his dog.
"The next thing you know, Hutchie came up gasping for air, water spilling out of his mouth and screaming his head off and I was like are you kidding me?" he told Sunrise.
"I thought I'm going to have to get in there but I made a whole pile of noise beforehand, I'm pretty embarrassed by the whole screaming side of things. I made a whole pile of noise just to scare him, hoping he'd let go but he didn't, so I had to walk all the way down to the river's edge and sorted it out myself."
Mick said he's got a few scratches from where the kangaroo hit him and told Sunrise his "forearm was killing me".
"It was a bit of a punch on. I teach Brazilians Jiu Jitsu and I have a grappling style that I like to take people to the ground and the next thing you know I'm in the water and I'm going what the hell are you doing, this is ridiculous," he said.
"We had a bit of a wrestle and lucky enough I lost my phone on the way down but as I stood up I found it, I felt it land on my left foot, so as soon as it did, I picked it up and went back and looked again. I could see it cocking its leg, ready to kick, so I splashed water in its face and as I turned it basically lunged for me again... so I had to make a bit of a break for it."
The video quickly gained attention online, with many people baffled by the encounter.
One person commented, "Kangaroo drowning me in water fear unlocked" while another person added, "I thought the dog was giving the kangaroo a ride".
"So do kangaroo eat dogs or why is he trying to choke it," a person asked.
