The Dubbo zookeeper who struck a kangaroo in the face after it had his dog in a headlock will keep his job, despite calls from some groups for him to be sacked.

Greig Tonkins was on a hunting trip organised for a 19-year-old man dying of cancer when he raced to help his dog from the grips of a kangaroo.

The video showing a man punching a kangaroo after it attacked his dog went viral. Credit:Facebook / Greg Bloom

The incident occurred in country New South Wales in June but footage of Mr Tonkin's punching the kangaroo before calling his dogs away only went viral on Sunday after it was shared by an American man online.

In a statement on Tuesday, Taronga Western Plains Zoo, where Mr Tonkins has worked for the past six years as an elephant keeper, said he was not in danger of losing his job.