
The Australian Outback can be a lonely place, but a male kangaroo and his female pig companion appear to have found a solution.

Photographs of the two animals show they are extremely intimate friends, and the farmer who owns the pig says they have been in a relationship for a year.

Sydney-based PhD candidate Ryan Frazer said he found the couple getting very cosy as he passed by a paddock in Aileron, near Alice Springs in the Northern Territory, during a research trip.

He took a series of photographs, which show the kangaroo cuddling up to the female pig - whose name is Apples - by placing his paws on both sides of the animal while crouched in front of her - as if the two animals were hugging. There were also two geese in the paddock, and one watched on from up close.

A Sydney student photographed a kangaroo and a pig getting intimate while on a research trip to the Northern Territory

After a few minutes, the kangaroo 'worked himself up and went for it', Sydney-based PhD candidate Ryan Frazer

Mr Frazer said when the kangaroo was 'finished' the pig tried to jump on his back to 'reciprocate'

After a few minutes, the kangaroo 'worked himself up and went for it', Mr Frazer said.

'I didn't even know it was possible,' he told Daily Mail Australia.

'The animals saw us ... we met them at the fence and they just stood together in front of us.

'The kangaroo was ripped, a bit aggressive, huffing a bit. But the pig stayed with him, nuzzling under his arm, and the kangaroo was hugging the pig for a while.'

A kangaroo and a pig have been photographed having sex in a paddock in outback Australia

The kangaroo and pig approached a student visiting the area before the stopped and appeared to 'hug'

Sydney-based PhD candidate Ryan Frazer was visiting Aileron, near Alice Springs, Northern Territory, on research trip when he saw the animals

Mr Frazer said he and his colleague were 'bewildered by the affection' the animals had for another, as they nuzzled for a few minutes.

'Then the kangaroo started hugging the pig from behind, worked himself up a bit and went for it,' he said.

'The pig was totally nonchalant about the whole thing, was not concerned at all.

'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.'

The entire affair last for about five or 10 minutes.

'I didn't even know it was possible,' the PhD candidate who photographed the encounter said

'The kangaroo was ripped, a bit aggressive, huffing a bit. But the pig stayed with him, nuzzling under his arm, and the kangaroo was hugging the pig for a while'

Mr Frazer said he and his colleagues headed to a nearby art gallery, where a local asked if they had 'met the kangaroo and pig'

'I said "yes, they seem pretty close",' he said.

'He said, "yeah, the kangaroo's been heaps calmer since the pig has been in there".

'One of my colleagues was from Northern Arizona University and hadn't seen outback Australia before.'

'Then the kangaroo started hugging the pig from behind, worked himself up a bit and went for it'

Local man and the pig's owner, Greg Dick, said he had tried to break up the couple previously but failed, and that they had been 'in a relationship' for more than a year.

'I tried to take the pig away the other day and the kangaroo almost tore the fence down,' Mr Dick told the NT News.

'They're in love.'

The encounter between the kangaroo and the pig last for about five to 10 minutes

Local man and the animals' owner, Greg Dick, said the kangaroo was named 'F*** It', and the pig was named 'Apples'

'I tried to take the pig away the other day and the kangaroo almost tore the fence down,' Mr Dick said. 'They're in love'