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Video of guy punching a kangaroo in the face has quite a story behind it

Yes, Australia is just as wild as you think it is.
 By 
Johnny Lieu
 on 
Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Seen that viral video of man punching a kangaroo in Australia over the weekend? Turns out there's quite the saga behind it. It's all very intense.

The video was first shared on the Facebook page of user Steven Stubenraugh, where it's since received 3.8 million views at the time of writing.

The video shows a man running toward a kangaroo, which has a dog in a headlock.

The man confronts the kangaroo, who then lets go of the dog after a struggle. Then out of nowhere, the dude gives the kangaroo a punch in the face.

There's been discussion over whether the footage is fake or not, and of course, over whether it's okay to punch an animal in the face in self defence.

It turns out the footage was from a "final" wild pig-hunting trip for a young man named Kailem, who died from cancer last week, according to news.com.au.

"Basically Kailem wanted to catch a boar," trip-organiser Mathew Amor told the news outlet.

"And so a few of us got together to take him out, and another mate filmed more than an hour of video to put together as a DVD for Kailem and his family of the trip."

The man who actually punched the kangaroo is only known as "Goo," and has kept quiet due to having a "good government job."

However Daily Mail say they have identified the man as a zookeeper, working in the elephant enclosure at Taronga Western Plains Zoo -- which, if true, would add yet another layer of strangeness to the whole story.

By the way, the dog is fine thanks to its breastplate -- used to protect it from boar tusks.

"My mate only stunned it," Amor said. "His hand was OK, he didn't hit it very hard at all. It was funny because the guy who did it is the most placid bloke. We laughed at him for chucking such a sh*t punch."

Yep, Australia is as wild as you think it is.

Topics Animals

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Johnny Lieu

Mashable Australia's Web Culture Reporter.Reach out to me on Twitter at @Johnny_Lieu or via email at jlieu [at] mashable.com

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