A video posted by David Boyd to the Canberra Notice Board Group on Facebook shows an early morning rescue pulled off by three people. Two people waded through the cold waters and carried the kangaroo over to the walkway where the third person helped it up out of the water.
The sun was seen rising during the rescue and a few bystanders watched as the kangaroo was pulled out of the lake.
“This was my morning—only in Canberra—well done to these two guys absolute champions—bloody freezing—good news the kangaroo came good,” Boyd wrote in the video caption.
Boyd told Newsweek he came across the kangaroo at about 5:30 in the morning and called for assistance.
“The roo was in obvious distress and shivering uncontrollably and weak and tired,” Boyd said. “After I stayed with the roo for about half an hour and he was starting to perk up.”
According to the Canadian Museum of Nature, kangaroos may lure a potential predator into the water and drown them. However, the kangaroo in Boyd’s video did not appear to put up a fight against the two people taking him out of the water.
The rescue’s success was short-lived, however, because the kangaroo jumped into the lake for a second time.
The Canberra Times reported the kangaroo was spotted “fighting” people before it hopped into the freezing lake. Penelope Twemlow told the news outlet that she was out for a walk when she noticed a group of people near the lake.
“I saw a kangaroo fighting, for want of a better word, a gentleman on a bicycle,” she said. “That gentleman had the bike in between him and the kangaroo to try and defend himself, and the minute he tried to get away the kangaroo went after him again.”
Soon after, the kangaroo jumped into the lake. Twemlow said the kangaroo “was visibly in shock and shaking quite badly.” Along with a few other bystanders, she helped the kangaroo out of the water. When it was taken out of the water, the kangaroo started fighting a bystander, jumped into the water and swam out into the middle of the lake. Eventually, Twemlow said, she had to leave because of the cold weather.
“I got so bloody cold because it was one degree out—I’ve got a photo of my pants there were icicles forming on my pants,” she told The Canberra Times.
She said bystanders reached out to animal welfare services, and they were waiting for them to arrive as she left.
Despite the kangaroo hopping into the frigid waters, Boyd told The Canberra Times seeing the community efforts to help the kangaroo brightened his day.
“It was just a good news thing…make people happy I guess, and the times we’re living in a moment it’s good to see people rally around and get something done, and have a good outcome,” he said.
Boyd told Newsweek he was told officials were able to relocate the kangaroo to a safe spot.
Updated 09/23/2021, 5:38 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with statements from David Boyd.
