Kangaroo and joey die after surviving for days while impaled by arrows

For days she limped through the bush in pain, desperately trying to care for the joey in her pouch while impaled by arrows. She tried to pull the arrow from her leg with her paws. But her efforts, and the best intentions of rescuers, could not save her.

The kangaroo and her joey died after she moved just as a ranger fired, causing a tranquilliser dart to hit a vulnerable part of her body. Nikki Sutterby, from the Australian Society for Kangaroos, said it was unlikely the kangaroo and her joey, at Wyangala Dam near Cowra in New South Wales, were victims of hunters.



"The arrows aren't hunting arrows; they are target arrows," Ms Sutterby said. "Hunting arrows are meant to kill. She was in agony for four days before anyone could get close."

Michael Ansell from rescue group WIRES said he was aware of another kangaroo with an arrow in it but searchers could not find the animal. Cowra police are searching for the culprits.