Australian
politician injured in kangaroo attack
An Australian politician suffered gashes to one of his legs when a close
encounter with a kangaroo during his morning jog turned violent.
Shane Rattenbury, a minister for the local government that manages the
territory around the Australian capital, Canberra, said he bumped into the
animal early Thursday as he was running along the side of a hedge in a suburban
neighborhood.
"I didn't see the kangaroo, and it didn't see me," he said by
phone on Friday. "It started hopping around, it was a bit panicked. I
ducked for cover and ended up on the ground. The kangaroo jumped on me in its
attempt to get away."
The claws on its powerful hind legs dug into the back of Rattenbury's left
leg.
Shan Rattenbury's injured leg
It then bounded away in the direction of a nearby nature reserve, leaving
Rattenbury lying dazed in the street with deep cuts in his leg.
"Like most animals, when frightened, they'll lash out quite
hard," he said.
Eastern Grey Kangaroos, the species he encountered, are common in the suburbs
of Canberra, especially at this time of year when the dry weather brings them
searching for grass and water on people's lawns.
"I see kangaroos here all the time when I'm running," Rattenbury
said. "But I've never actually crashed into one before."
He said that after the skirmish, he hitched a ride home and then went and
got his wounds cleaned and bandaged at a walk-in medical center. A nurse also
gave him a tetanus shot.
His injuries didn't stop him from going on to attend a sitting of the
local assembly, where some colleagues couldn't resist humoring him about his
experience.
A run in with a 'roo has left the municipal
services minister ruing his choice of route for a morning jog.
"There have certainly been a lot of kangaroo jokes and kangaroo puns
in the parliament," he said.
Australian media outlets also saw an opportunity for word play.
"A run in with a 'roo has left the municipal services minister ruing
his choice of route for a morning jog," an anchor on the Australian
Broadcasting Corporation saidas she introduced Rattenbury's story.
Although kangaroos don't usually pose a threat to humans, authorities in
the Canberra area have undertaken annual culls to control the animals' numbers
for environmental reasons. Rattenbury's political party, the Greens, doesn't
oppose the policy.
"The cull has been very controversial," he said. "It's undertaken
on the basis of science that indicates there is an overabundance of these
kangaroos in the region."
The Greens "continue to monitor that science and look at whether this
cull has delivered the desired impacts," he added.
On
Rattenbury's Facebook page, one person sought to draw a link between
the program and the minister's unfortunate experience.
"Perhaps the kangaroos are trying to tell you something about the
culling program," wrote a user named Rick Collins.
It is estimated that there are around 50 million kangaroos in Australia,
according to the national government.
Rattenbury says his alarming experience hasn't deterred him from
continuing to run in the same neighborhood as he trains for triathlons in the
coming months.
Summary: An Australian politician Shane
Rattenbury was jogging on the morning along the side of a hedge in a suburban
neighborhood. Kangaroo attacked him and run away. So his leg injured because of
that happening. He said “I didn’t see the kangaroo, and it didn’t see me.”
Kangaroo was frightened, so it attacked to Shane Rattenbury. Usually he jogging
with kangaroo, but he never crashed to kangaroo. But this time they crashed so
that happen was occurred. Shane Rattenbury went to the medical center. Nurse
gave him a tetanus shot.
Vocabulary
1.
Politician: Person whose job is
in politics
2.
Suburb: Part of the city,
outside its centre.
3.
Kangaroo: Live in Oceania, they
carry their baby on their stomach
4.
Tetanus: Painful disease,
Getting into wounds.
5.
Hedge: Small trees, usually
along the garden, road.
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