Aussie Horror: Driver Mows Down 17 Kangaroos

Authorities say tire tracks show it was deliberate
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 1, 2016 12:33 PM CST
Aussie Horror: Driver Mows Down 17 Kangaroos
This photo released by the RSPCA in Queensland shows two people looking over dead kangaroos lying on the roadside on the outskirts of Brisbane, Australia, on Monday.   (Michael Beatty/RSPCA via AP)

A strip of Australian highway was left strewn with injured and dead kangaroos Monday morning, and animal welfare officials are trying to find out who they say ran them down intentionally, the Guardian reports. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals says a driver outside Brisbane purposely mowed down the marsupials, killing 16 of them (a 17th had to be euthanized), per CNN. The officials note that other injured animals may have taken off into the bush.

Tire marks helped officials determine the vehicle swerved toward the grazing animals, who reportedly don't usually fear passing cars. "You can see the person's deliberately gone right across the road to the other side and hit several, and then come back on the road and hit another four or five," an RSPCA spokesman tells CNN. Officers are looking for a suspect who would've likely been driving a large car or truck, possibly with a grille guard. (Poor kangaroos—one almost became an ISIS-themed bomb to attack the police.)

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