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After finding a kangaroo holding his dog in a headlock, an Australian bow hunter came to the rescue by beating the marsupial at its own game: Face punching.

“Let him go Tonks,” a friend can be heard saying just after Greig Tonkins, a zookeeper, lands a direct punch to the face of a New South Wales roo.

The encounter, recorded by Tonkins’ friend Greg Bloom, occurred during a boar hunting trip on a remote property in Condobolin, about six hours west of Sydney.

The human-kangaroo faceoff is much more dangerous than it looks — kangaroos are not exempt from the vast catalogue of dangerous Australian animals.

While the animals are herbivores, kangaroos regularly attack Australian joggers, cyclists and children, occasionally inflicting serious injury.

When fighting humans, kangaroos will use the same attacks that they use on fellow kangaroos, which means Tonkins could have expected punches, scratching and — in the worse case scenario — a full body kick to the gut.

Instead, after Tonkins landed the first punch, the kangaroo attempted to stand its ground briefly before jumping away. The dog, Max, was fine.

The New South Wales government generally advises Australians not to punch large animals. In fact, the official line is to treat an angry kangaroo the same way that Canadians are sometimes taught to treat bears: By playing dead.

“If you are attacked, drop to the ground and curl into a ball with your hands protecting your face and throat,” reads an official government website.