Two Australian surfers came across a surprising marsupial while paddling out. And it was all captured on camera. The video shows what happens as the surfers rescue a wallaby far from the shore.
Videos by Outdoors
Take a look at the clip:
In the video, you see the surfer spot the animal in the water. He paddles closer and says, “You want help?” He then pulls the wallaby onto the front of the surfboard. The animal stays fairly still, likely due to exhaustion and the cold water.
The surfer, whose name is not shared on his Instagram account, then begins paddling towards the beach.
“This may be the first ever surfing kangaroo,” he jokes as he heads towards the beach.
Getting in proves to be difficult as the surfers deal with breaking waves, and the wallaby gives little effort to stay on the board. Once they arrive on the beach, the animal collapses on the ground. The pair stay with the animal in the sun until it finally pops up. They then say their goodbyes.
“This is a message to all wallabies, wallabies don’t paddle,” they say before leaving the animal.
Many in the comments praised the rescue as a brave act.
Kangaroo vs. Wallaby
Even though the video starts with the surfers calling the animal a kangaroo, they later start saying wallaby, and posted the video stating it was a wallaby. So, what’s the difference?
Both animals are native to Australia and look fairly similar. However, kangaroos are much larger. They can weigh over 200 pounds and stand over six feet tall. Meanwhile, wallabies usually only weigh under 45 pounds. They are also usually under three feet tall. Think of them as a mini-kangaroo. Both animals can swim, but that doesn’t mean they can’t run into trouble from time to time.
