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A kangaroo and a pig have been pictured having sex in the Australian outback - and are believed to have been an item for a year.

In these mind-boggling pictures, the marsupial is seen mounting his porcine paramour and the pair nuzzling each other affectionately.

In one image the kangaroo is seen with his arm draped across the pig in a protective manner as he gazes into the camera.

The cross-species affair was discovered by researcher Ryan Frazer, 28, who was on a work trip in Australia's Northern Territory when he and his colleagues stopped to stretch their legs in Aileron, about 80 miles north of Alice Springs.

But what the group thought would be a routine sight-seeing stop to see a local landmark - a giant statue of an indigenous man - turned out to take a strange twist.

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(Image: Caters)

Ryan, a PhD student at Wollongong University, documented an unusual encounter with a local pig named 'Apples' and a kangaroo - which have apparently been in a relationship for over a year.

Ryan, 28, from Newtown, Sydney, who took the pictures two weeks ago, said: "We met them at a fence near the landmark and we were standing right in front of them really and they stopped there and were checking us out.

"It was pretty clear from the outset the kangaroo and the pig were strangely close, they were touching each other, the pig was nuzzling under the kangaroos arms.

"The kangaroo kind of like had its arm over the pig, and they were standing there checking us out - but like 'together' checking us out.

"The kangaroo got up on his back legs and showing his height, he was pretty big, almost two metres tall.

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(Image: Caters)

"I don't know if it was a territory thing, but he got himself worked up a bit and started hugging the pig from behind.

"And that's when we realised there was more to the relationship, he kind of worked himself up a bit, and that's when we could see there was some magic in the air.

"I'm not sure if he could actually 'get there' but he was going through the motions and pretty clearly finished. His thing came out at a right angle it was really surprising.

"The pig didn't seem concerned at all, there was no stress.

Mr Frazer told Daily Mail Australia : "We were just standing there like, 'this is strange. Should we still be standing here, watching, taking photos'?"

"When the kangaroo finished, the pig tried to jump on the back of the kangaroo for a bit, maybe to reciprocate... that's when we decided we'd had enough."

(Image: Caters)

"The pig even seemed to mount the kangaroo afterwards, pigs are pretty smart, and the geese were just sitting there the whole time chilling out.

"We were all pretty weirded out by the whole thing."

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Ryan said the whole encounter lasted around 10 minutes with the steamy portion of the meeting lasting three to four minutes.

Ryan said: "We were pretty weirded out about the whole thing afterwards and I knew this was something unusual to see.

"I showed a few people over the following days, but I've been totally overwhelmed by the reaction now.

"What perhaps was the most surprising about this was the mutual affection between the pair, it was more affection than I've seen between a human couple."