'Pet' Kangaroo Kills 77-Year-Old Man; Euthanized For Blocking Paramedics

A "pet" kangaroo is suspected to have killed a 77-year-old man in Australia, police said.

The elderly man, who has not been identified, was found by a family member with serious injuries at his property in the southern town of Redmond, north of Albany, Western Australia, state police said Tuesday.

An ambulance was called to the scene, but the man succumbed to his injuries on the spot.

Police said that the kangaroo was blocking the ambulance crew and other officials from examining the injured man, Yahoo News Australia reported. They added that officers were forced to kill the kangaroo as it was "posing an ongoing threat to emergency responders".

Police believe that the man was keeping the wild kangaroo as a pet on his property. Community members said that the man lived alone.

This is the first reported fatal attack by a kangaroo in Australia since 1936. At that time, 38-year-old William Cruickshank was attacked by a kangaroo as he was trying to rescue two dogs from the wild animal, Australian media reported. He suffered a broken jaw and extensive head injuries in the attack. He later died in a hospital in New South Wales.

The Great Southern region of Western Australia is known for the western grey species of kangaroo. A male western grey is significantly heavy and can grow up to over seven feet.

Speaking to Yahoo News Australia, the operations manager at the Australian Reptile Park on the NSW Central Coast recommended against having an adult kangaroo as a pet.

"Kangaroos are very powerful and some of the species get massive, like the red kangaroos and eastern and western greys," he said, adding, "Behavior especially in males can be quite full on, and they get massive. Some of these bucks can be over 70kg in weight which is the size of a grown man."