77-Year-Old Farmer Beaten To Death By His Kangaroo Pet

An alpaca farmer was killed by a kangaroo he had been keeping as a pet since it was a joey.

Peter Eades, 77, was found with serious injuries by a family member on Sunday morning, a day after it is believed he was attacked by his three-year-old kangaroo.

Paramedics were called but the kangaroo was still aggressive, and they were not able to get to Peter without risking getting hurt themselves.

Police eventually shot the animal but Peter had already died.

Now, more details have come out about Peter who was clearly an animal lover.

He reportedly set up his alpaca farm in Redmond, in Australia’s Great Southern region, in 1997.

Peter previously said alpacas ‘were the most beautiful creatures in the world’.
He said: ‘They’re very curious, they’re very affectionate, they’re very homely animals.’

When Peter’s favourite alpaca Claudia Wonninup died in 2002, he set up a cemetery and dug a hole next to Claudia’s grave so he could be buried next to her when he died.

The details of how he came to keeping a kangaroo as a pet are not yet known.

But experts have warned the public to remember that kangaroos are wild animals.

Conservation manager Hayley Shute told Daily Mail Australia: ‘When any person is injured or killed by an animal it’s quite shocking, especially kangaroos as they’re seen as this cute and fluffy icon of Australia.

The take home message for the public is to give distance to wild animals and give them respect.’

Kangaroos are not generally aggressive creatures, but they are incredibly strong and can be extremely dangerous if they feel threatened.

The western grey, found in the region where Peter’s farm is, are nicknamed the boxing kangaroo because ‘their bodies are built for kicking and fighting’.

The last time a human was killed by a kangaroo in Australia was in 1936, when hunter William Cruickshank, 38, tried to rescue his dogs from the animal in western New South Wales.