Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has described as "pretty off" a video of a Tourism Australia campaign which involves a kangaroo being kept in a cage on a busy Los Angeles street.

The YouTube video recorded by Kylie Mackenzie, who is a New Zealander working in the US, shows a large kangaroo swaying side to side in the cage.

Ms Mackenzie says on her YouTube page that she is "not affiliated with any activist groups".

"I am just someone who works in Beverly Hills and had to walk past this atrocity two days in a row," she said.

The kangaroo was being displayed on the street as part of a January G'Day USA marketing campaign.

Mr Rudd today told a Perth radio station he had not seen the footage.

"My first reaction is it sounds pretty off to me," he said. It sounds really off, but I'm waiting for some further details on this in terms of what's actually gone on here."

Conservationist Bob Irwin has condemned Tourism Australia over the treatment of the kangaroo.

While leaving hospital in Brisbane following what he described as a "major heart attack" at his home near Kingaroy on Sunday night, Mr Irwin released a statement taking Tourism Australia to task.

"I'm shocked and disgusted on seeing the footage of a caged kangaroo on the street of Los Angeles this morning," he said.

"It is a terrible image for Australia to send to the world, seeing a magnificent kangaroo treated in such a cruel way.

"Where the bloody hell is the Government? I trust the Government will also take Tourism Australia to task on their poor judgment."

But Tourism Australia says the kangaroo was being looked after by professional Los Angeles animal handlers and was treated well while it was on display.

"Any accusation ... we take it very seriously if it's been poorly treated," Tourism Australia managing director Andrew McEvoy told Macquarie Radio.

- ABC/AAP/AFP