Getty Images
- A wallaby got stuck in the water at an Australian beach after it was chased in by a dog.
- The animal was safely rescued by beachgoers from the crocodile-infested waters.
- Rescuer Angus Burnett told 7News the wallaby "was a bit disorientated."
Beachgoers rescued a wallaby from crocodile-infested waters in Australia after a dog chased the marsupial into the ocean.
Angus Burnett was among a trio of rescuers who worked to pull the wallaby out of the waters at Trinity Beach in Cairns, Queensland, this week, Australian TV network 7News reported. The beach and surrounding areas are known as a habitat for crocodiles, Queensland's government says.
Burnett told the news outlet that he was on an afternoon walk when he stripped down to his underwear and ran into the water after he spotted a "concerned woman" who told him that her husband had been in the ocean for 10 minutes trying to bring a wallaby to shore.
"I just swam out and helped him," Burnett, 32, told 7News. "I wanted to make sure the wallaby was ok."
The struggling wallaby was more than 150 feet from the shore, according to Burnett, who said that he and the other man tried to guide the "agitated" wallaby back to land for about 10 minutes.
But the wallaby "wasn't coming in" and "was a bit disorientated," Burnett said. "It was kicking around a bit and was a bit tired. It would go limp and go under at time, so you had to pick it back up."
According to 7News, a woman also jumped in the water to help rescue the wallaby.
Finally, the wallaby was successfully brought back to land before it hopped away from the beachgoers.
Burnett was modest about his assistance to the animal, saying, it's "something you do to help out, isn't it, as an Australian."
UPI reported that in 2020, two wallabies had to be rescued while swimming offshore at nearby beaches.