An Australian politician taking his morning jog in the capital Canberra has come off second best after crossing a kangaroo.
Shane Rattenbury, was only seconds away from a collision as he pounded the pavement when he saw the eastern grey kangaroo at the end of a hedge grazing on a front lawn.
Mr Rattenbury says the 4ft 7in (1.4-metre) kangaroo knocked him to the ground, the claws of its powerful hind legs drawing blood with two scratches to his left leg. His right leg was painfully bruised by the fall.
He says the roo “was last seen hopping off into the distance quite comfortably”.
“We both got a nasty fright, and of course when kangaroos are startled, they lash out,” 41-year-old Mr Rattenbury said. “As the kangaroo sought to escape, it landed on me, and its claws dug into my leg.”
Mr Rattenbury is a minister in the Australian Capital Territory government, which administers the city of Canberra.
