By Carola Frentzen

Brisbane (Australia) - A large kangaroo has attacked and seriously injured a man in Australia . According to the emergency services, the marsupial attacked the 50-year-old man right outside his front door as he was about to go to his car.

The victim suffered serious injuries to his chest and deep lacerations to his arms, the ABC quoted the Queensland Ambulance Service as saying. The man from the village of Willows Gemfields was flown to a hospital in the city of Rockhampton.

The incident took place last Wednesday.

The marsupial was reportedly around two meters tall. The authorities issued a warning and urged people in the town 700 kilometers northwest of Brisbane to be very careful. "Normally the kangaroos in the town are quite friendly, and people feed them and think they're great," said a local fire department employee.

So far there have never been any problems, but this male kangaroo has apparently taken it into his head to attack people.

Down Under, kangaroo attacks on humans are not uncommon. In 2022, there was a fatal attack in the west of the country for the first time since the 1930s. The victim had kept the kangaroo as a pet. But the animals also often attack other kangaroos.

The kangaroo is Australia's national animal. There are four species of the hopping marsupials: the red giant kangaroo, the eastern gray giant kangaroo, the western gray giant kangaroo and the antelope kangaroo.