Photo: Kangaroos ‘Mourning’ a Dying Mother

Walking in a park in River Heads (Queensland), Australian photographer Evan Switzer saw two kangaroos, an adult male and a joey, leaning over a dying female, The Guardian writes. The photograph immediately became viral and had tens of thousands of likes and comments.

“I saw the male pick up the female, he looked like he was just trying to get her up and see what was wrong with her, — the author of the photograph said. — it was a pretty special thing, he was just mourning the loss of his mate. The male would chase away the other kangaroos that came around – he was sort of protective over the female.”

The Guardian asked Dr Derek Spielman, a senior lecturer in veterinary pathology at the University of Sydney, to comment on the photograph. He said that the scene is not easy to explain, but it might be that the death of the female had actually been incurred by the male kangaroo: she might have been injured during mating.