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Kangaroo attacks on Aussie hospital grounds fuel call for more warnings

Xinhua,May 02, 2018 Adjust font size:

SYDNEY, May 2 (Xinhua) -- The latest attacks by kangaroos on visitors at a hospital site in Australia's New South Wales state fueled calls for more warnings about feeding or approaching the animals, local media reported on Wednesday.

The iconic Australian marsupials on the grounds of Morisset Hospital in the southern Lake Macquarie area, about two hours by train from state capital Sydney, draw thousands of visitors a week but tourists who dangle carrots to draw the kangaroos for photo-taking could get kicked and scratched, the ABC News channel reported.

"I've even seen some silly people feeding them McDonald's, KFC, corn chips, oats and there are some foods they are very aggressive for," tourist shuttle bus driver Shane Lewis was quoted as saying.

"There was a guy who got his stomach gashed open and he wasn't even feeding them but ... they'd been to McDonald's 10 minutes before, so whether they still had the food smell on them I have no idea, but for some reason the kangaroo took to him."

Local politician Greg Piper has called for city, health and parks authorities to put up signs in multiple languages to warn the growing number of tourists against feeding the kangaroos, reported The Sydney Morning Herald.

Cases have included the kangaroos "kicking out, clawing faces and grappling people causing lacerations or significant scratching," with one victim recently requiring 17 stitches on the face, Piper was quoted as saying.

Kangaroos, like their marsupial cousins koalas, are a popular Australian sight and can be found in the wild throughout the country. Enditem