Report: Kangaroo beats up 94-year-old woman

Kangaroo boxing has long since been banned as a circus spectacle in Australia, but the world's largest marsupial has an apparent natural penchant for pugilism.

A 94-year-old Australian woman was beaten up by a red kangaroo in her backyard on Sunday, reports Australia's Courier Mail.

"I thought it was going to kill me," Phyllis Johnson told The Courier-Mail from her hospital bed. "It was taller than me and it just ploughed through the clothes on the washing line straight for me."

Despite being outmatched, the elderly woman from Charleville, a few hundred miles west of Brisbane in rural eastern Australia, fought back.

"I happened to have a broom nearby and I just started swinging at it. I bashed it on the head but it kept going for me, not even the dog would help, it was too frightened," Johnson said.

Eventually, Johnson said she crawled away and under a fence to escape the attack, and police officers arrived a short time later, the Courier Mail reports.

The enraged roo was not done however, as it charged the two police officers, who were forced to use capsicum spray to subdue the animal, the Courier Mail reports.

Police called the attack unusual, and Johnson said she had fed other friendlier, and smaller kangaroos in her area before.

National Geographic writes that: "Larger male (red) kangaroos are powerfully built. They often lean back on their sturdy tail and "box" each other with their strong hind legs. Kangaroos can also bite and wield sharp claws, which they may do in battle with an enemy like a dingo. Red kangaroos live in Australia's deserts and open grasslands, gathering in groups called mobs. Many millions of these animals roam Australia."