This photo was taken by our South African friends, Karen and Phillip Richards, on a recent holiday in Australia.

This rather beautiful Eastern Grey Kangaroo is from the tropics of North Queensland.

Many people are surprised to know that macropods (ie: kangaroo's, wallabies and wallaroo's) are actually very good swimmers, and they can sometimes be seen swimming between the mainland and islands off the coast, such as the one in this photo.

Eastern Grey Kangaroo's have also been known to lure marauding dogs into dams, etc. When on land, macropods often have very little chance of out running or out maneuvering predators such as the domestic dog. However if a dog is silly enough to follow the kangaroo into water it can then overpower the dog - and drownings have often occurred. It's amazing what our native animals can do when their survival instincts kick in.

Click here to see what domestic pets can do to our precious native animals - WARNING, photo's may be distressing to some viewers.