Mick Moloney was exercising alongside the Murray River, near Mildura, Australia, when he realized that one of his dogs was no longer with him. Hatchi had disappeared into the vegetation, and when Mick began looking for him, he came across a scene that was quite difficult to explain.
“I looked toward the river, and behind the reeds I could see this huge kangaroo standing there, with its arms really deep in the water, staring at me”
Then he saw his dog Hatchi between the animal’s arms.
Kangaroos are completely herbivorous animals, but when they feel threatened by their predators, they run into the water and use their muscular arms and front claws to grab them by the neck and repeatedly push them underwater until they drown.
Hatchi was yelping and spitting out water as he tried to get free, and Mick realized he would have to step in.
First, he tried to resolve the situation from the bank. He shouted and made noise to scare the kangaroo away, but the animal didn’t leave. So he decided to go in himself.
Before that, he took out his phone and started recording. Not because he had much time to think about going viral, but because, as he later explained, he knew no one would believe him when he told them what he was about to do.
He approached and slapped the marsupial, which responded by swinging its arms at him and hitting the phone too. For a few seconds, the camera disappeared underwater, but the recording continued and captured the moment Hatchi got free.
The man shared the recording on TikTok and, although the footage seems to show a man winning a fight against a kangaroo, for Mick it was never about deciding who was stronger.
I just wanted to get Hatchi out of the water and go home with him. I got my dog back. That’s the most important thing”, he later summed up.