Dramatic kangaroo rescue

ArticleData Array ( [Article] => Array ( [article_id] => 1018179 [headline] => Dramatic kangaroo rescue [abstract] => A Queensland man has plucked a drowning kangaroo from the Gold Coast surf. The extraordinary tale has turned business speaker Neil McCallum into a media sensation following the 6am rescue on the Gold Coast's Kirra Beach. [keywords] => kangaroo, rescue, surf, queensland [content] =>

A Queensland man has plucked a drowning kangaroo from the Gold Coast surf. The extraordinary tale has turned business speaker Neil McCallum into a media sensation following the 6am rescue on the Gold Coast's Kirra Beach.

The 48-year-old was returning from a early morning run with his 15-year-old son on Tuesday when a young kangaroo bounded across their path and straight into the water.

Mr McCallum said he was immediately concerned for the kangaroo, given recent shark activity in the area.
"There's been sharks seen here, and a fellow was eaten or bitten only a few months ago around the corner there," he told the Seven Network.
   
"So I've thought, `Oh, this isn't good to have a kangaroo for one thing travelling out to sea.'"
   
The pair kept an eye on the young roo before one of the Gold Coast's strong rips forced Mr McCallum into action.
The part-time surfer ran home and grabbed his longboard, sparing only enough time to tell his wife what was happening before heading back to the beach and plunging into the surf.
   
His wife Amanda, still dressed in her pyjamas, came along and captured the entire rescue on camera.

"The waves were really smashing on him and he's getting rolled around. I'm trying to pick him up, get him by the tail without him scratching me or whatever kangaroos do," Mr McCallum said.

He eventually herded the frightened animal back to the shore, where it bounded off. Mr McCallum said he had never before seen a kangaroo around Kirra, a built-up suburb about 20km south of Surfers Paradise, although reports of swimming kangaroos elsewhere are not unusual.
   

[start_date] => 15 May 2009 | 12:30:09 PM [comments_allowed] => 1 [source] => AAP [commentCount] => 0 [video] => [image] => Array ( [caption] => A Queensland man has dramatically rescued a kangaroo after it bounded into the surf on the Gold Coast's Kirra Beach [useRegularImage] => 1 [media_library_id] => 75469 [site_id] => 1 [media_library_group_id] => 0 [media_usage_id] => 0 [filename] => site_1_rand_1163207372_kangaroo1505_b_sbs.jpg [title] => kangaroo1505_B_sbs_1163207372 [description] => file:site_1_rand_1163207372_kangaroo1505_b_sbs.jpg [type] => [height] => 338 [width] => 450 [source] => [video_hi] => [video_lo] => [section] => [display_order] => 0 [create_date] => 2009-05-15 12:45:40 [active] => 1 [media_usage] => Article Large [usageWidth] => 300 [usageHeight] => 225 ) [imagePath] => http://media.sbs.com.au/news/upload_media/ [audio] => [reporter] => [relatedLinks] => Array ( [0] => Array ( [id] => 1017622 [label] => Roo on the loose in New York state [display_order] => 1 [type] => Article ) [1] => Array ( [id] => 1012704 [label] => Kangaroos on the loose in France [display_order] => 2 [type] => Article ) ) [relatedArticles] => Array ( [0] => Array ( [article_id] => 1017622 [headline] => Roo on the loose in New York state [abstract] => A kangaroo which skipped its cage in a town 400km west of Manhattan has been sighted by motorists, but is still being hunted by police.
[content] =>

Police in New York state were on the alert for a missing kangaroo which has been on the run for the past month.

According to the online newspaper The Oneida Daily, the one-metre tall roo escaped his cage in the town of Chittenango, some 400km west of Manhattan, and has been on the loose ever since.

The animal was spotted earlier in the week by several motorists in the neighbouring town of Canastota but a police search failed to turn up the critter.

Out of an abundance of caution, authorities urged citizens to take great care in approaching the animal, even though the kangaroo was not considered dangerous.

[content_type_id] => 3 [site_name] => World News Australia [articledate] => 8 May 2009 [articletime] => 8 May 2009 [display_order] => 1 ) [1] => Array ( [article_id] => 1012704 [headline] => Kangaroos on the loose in France [abstract] => Vandals set loose 15 kangaroos from an Australian theme park in southern France, sparking a major search operation. [content] =>

Vandals set loose 15 kangaroos from an Australian theme park in southern France, sparking a major search operation, with three marsupials still on the loose on Sunday.

Carole Masson owner of the nature reserve said five pens had been broken open. 

"Their padlocks were smashed and the perimeter fence was torn in several places.
 
"We had 15 missing kangaroos -- it was complete panic," she told AFP.
 
Firefighters, police and gendarmes were mobilised to track down the animals as they bounded through the woods.
 
"We found five in the park, and some more in the woods nearby.

But three are still out there somewhere," Masson said, adding that a warning has gone out to local drivers for fear the animals could stray onto a nearby highway.
 
"They are not aggressive or nervous animals by nature," she said. "They're probably just grazing quietly away somewhere."
 
The theme park, which houses Australian animals alongside exhibits on Aboriginal culture and gold-digging, made French headlines last October when a a pack of hunting dogs attacked and killed 44 kangaroos.

[content_type_id] => 3 [site_name] => World News Australia [articledate] => 23 March 2009 [articletime] => 23 March 2009 [display_order] => 2 ) ) [comments] => Array ( ) ) [winston] => test )