"Killer" roo chopped with axe

Friday 11 July 2003, 6:30 PM

A giant kangaroo was killed with an axe after it attacked two couples in a central Queensland town.

NSW holidaymaker John Crouch was forced to use an axe to kill a two-metre high kangaroo which pounced on him outside the annexe of his caravan parked in the yard of his in-laws' house in the town of Monto, 400km north-east of Brisbane.

Mr Crouch killed the kangaroo after it had attacked him before turning on his wife Helen.

The animal inflicted scratches to her face, back, and groin and kicked her in the stomach before her husband managed to pull the enraged animal off her.- Mr Crouch suffered a badly sprained hand, scratches and bruising.

"It was killed or be killed," Mr Crouch told the Bundaberg News-Mail.

"I'm absolutely sure it would have killed us if it could.

"It was completely crazy and became enraged without provocation."

Police and local parks and wildlife officers said the animal may have been the same one which attacked a local motel owner and his wife in Monto last month.

Doug and Pauline Lawson were left with minor injuries after the kangaroo knocked them to the ground in an unprovoked attack.

Wildlife officers believe it was an animal which had become dangerous after being released or escaping from the captivity of a previous owner.

Kangaroo owner Colin Candy, who makes no secret of keeping a kangaroo without a permit in his own backyard at Hervey Bay, said the roo may have just been hungry.

"The animal might have just been looking for something to eat because they trust humans," Mr Candy said.

©2003 AAP

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