WATCH: Baby Kangaroo rescued from croc-infested floodwater in Australia

The baby kangaroo was rescued from crocodile-infested flood water in Queensland Australia

MARCH 13, 2023 17:05

Updated: MARCH 13, 2023 17:07

A joey looks out from its the pouch of its mother, Chuck the kangaroo, in her enclosure at a zoo in the western Siberian city of Barnaul March 29, 2014. The zoo bought Chuck in 2013, believing it to be male until staff observed the cub in its pouch this month, local media reported. (photo credit: REUTERS/Andrei Kasprishin) — A joey looks out from its the pouch of its mother, Chuck the kangaroo, in her enclosure at a zoo in the western Siberian city of Barnaul March 29, 2014. The zoo bought Chuck in 2013, believing it to be male until staff observed the cub in its pouch this month, local media reported.

(photo credit: REUTERS/Andrei Kasprishin)

A baby kangaroo was rescued by Queensland Police, after finding itself stranded by a flood, the local police department shared in a video released on Monday.

Police explained that the joey was at risk not only of drowning but from crocodiles, who took the flood as an opportunity to invade the residential town of Burketown.

Police rescued a baby kangaroo from floodwaters behind a residential community in Burketown yesterday. A helicopter pilot flew over at the time and spotted two very large crocs nearby - a timely reminder to stay out of floodwaters as you never know what is lurking beneath pic.twitter.com/cLI3QsrOZV
— Queensland Police (@QldPolice) March 13, 2023

While baby Kangaroos instinctively know how to swim, there is a risk of exhaustion which could lead to drowning, according to animalhype.com. Additionally, baby kangaroos can be drowned in their mother's pouch.

Many Australian citizens have gone out of their way to protect the country's iconic wildlife from difficult weather conditions.

Record-breaking floods in Australia's Queensland

Record-breaking floods hit Australia's Queensland state. 100s of residents of an outback town were moved to higher ground.

The flood, triggered by heavy rain over the past week, is worst in the remote Gulf Country town of Burketown, about 2,100 km (1,300 miles) northwest of state capital Brisbane.

Footage from a helicopter of flooding due to heavy rain in Burketown, Queensland, Australia March 11, 2023 (credit: AARON FINN, NAUTILUS AVIATION VIA REUTERS)

Dan McKinlay, chief executive of the local council responsible for Burketown, said on Sunday that 97 residents had been airlifted out in the past 48 hours. Water levels in the area were "at heights not previously known" and the town looked like it was "sitting in the middle of an ocean," he told ABC radio.

Australia's Bureau of Meteorology predicted water levels in the area would peak on Sunday. It said the flood had already topped a March 2011 record of 6.78 meters (22.2 feet).

The crisis comes after frequent flooding in Australia's east over the last two years due to a multi-year La Nina weather event, including once-in-a-century floods that hit remote areas in the neighboring Northern Territory, in January.