Aussies perplexed by weird online kangaroo trend: 'Young and dumb'

Australia’s most iconic animal has caught the attention of tough-talking lads in the United States and England who think they could beat one up. The perplexing TikTok trend of men claiming they could beat up a kangaroo has been noticed by wildlife experts Down Under who have laughed off their “bravado” as “dumb”.

“You know what these blokes are like, they think they’re six foot tall and bulletproof. They're young, dumb, and full of crap,” 49-year-old tour guide Croc Turnbull told Yahoo News.

He’s seen dozens of instances of foolhardy behaviour on social media, some of them lighthearted, others deadly serious. And this has led him to collate a few of the most ridiculous examples.

In one clip an American says, “The largest animal that I came up with, that I think I could take on one-on-one, is a kangaroo.”

Another adds; “I feel like I could beat the f*** out of a kangaroo.”

In a separate clip, a man from the UK plays down a kangaroo’s abilities to fight back, claiming he could beat one up, “What’s a kangaroo going to do, try and scratch at you, try and jump at you?”

UFC fighter Sean Strickland also gets in on the act, revealing “It’s kind of been my dream to fight a kangaroo.” And there are a handful of forums where testosterone-filled men sitting behind their keyboards debate who would win between different MMA fighters and kangaroos.

Aussies confused after men overseas declare urge to fight kangaroos

Why so many men want to fight a herbivorous kangaroo has confused many Aussies. The marsupials are docile animals, which can become stressed and die of myopathy, a condition that destroys the muscles, when they’re attacked by humans or dogs.

Kangaroos will generally only fight back if they’re cornered against a fence, chased into water, or attacked by dogs. Males will also famously exhibit boxing-like behaviour as they vie for dominance during mating season, and this ability was exploited last century at travelling circuses as part of acts that would now be considered cruel.

Fed up with the claims, Croc took to TikTok to try and set the record straight, telling the men red kangaroos can grow up to 2.4 metres and are built like “brick sh** houses”.

His video (featured below – warning: offensive language) shows shots of muscular male roos, and a video of one beating up a boxing bag, has clocked up over 7.6 million views and 1.2 million likes after it struck a chord with viewers around the world.

“Clearly these guys have never seen a red kangaroo,” one person wrote. “I’m an American, but I grew up [watching] Steve Irwin. I know better,” another added. "Why would you want to fight a kangaroo? Actually punch an animal," another said.

What would happen if a person fought a kangaroo?

Speaking with Yahoo, Croc said most men who tried to take on an adult male kangaroo would get within two metres of the animal, and then be booted across the room by its powerful legs.

“Unfortunately, with our wildlife laws and cruelty to animals laws, we can't set it up, because that would be a great pay per view thing,” he joked.

“Roos have powerful legs that just literally break ribs, break bones. But I think a lot of people overseas see the cute and cuddly versions like quokkas and wallabies, and don’t realise how big a red kangaroo is.

“They see Skippy and think I'd be able to take him out. But Skippy is nothing compared to his big brother.”

Is Australia a dangerous place to visit?

Rather than wanting to fight Australia's kangaroos, Croc would prefer they respected them as an important part of Australia's ecology.

"I've worked for them for many years. And if they have to defend themselves, you're going to come off second best every time," he added.

"When I was in my 20s I was a professional stuntman, and I used to do a lot of stupid things, but what made me change was having a bad accident and I realised I could be broken. So I pulled my head in a bit."

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Croc takes regular wildlife and 4WD tours on Moreton Island in Queensland. When overseas tourists come to Australia they often arrive ready to fight back against nature because of the wild stories they hear about snakes, crocodiles and spiders. But when they see wildlife in real life he thinks they often change their opinion of wildlife.

"People come to Australia and think it's so dangerous, especially Americans. They're like: Oh my God, I'm gonna die," he said.

"But we don't have grizzly bears, black bears, mountain lions, cougars, crazy guys with guns, Donald Trump. I change a lot of their minds and let them see that Australia's not actually that dangerous and it's actually a pretty safe place to go."

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