The moment a hungry wedge-tailed eagle swooped down on an unsuspecting kangaroo has been captured on camera.
The bird of prey was filmed trying to grab the eastern grey kangaroo three times in Port Lincoln on the southern tip of the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia.
The marsupial fought back and managed to scare the eagle away on its third attempt.
Wildlife watcher Marianne Stockham captured the incredible footage.
‘I couldn’t believe that the wedge-tailed eagle was trying to catch such a large kangaroo,’ she said to Nine News.
Wedge-tailed eagles are the largest bird of prey in Australia with a wingspan up to 2.84m and a length up to 1.06m.
The big brown birds have been known to prey on small kangaroos, wallabies, koalas and emus – but their primary targets are rabbits and hares.
Wedge-tails are found throughout Australia and southern New Guinea.
The eastern grey kangaroo is found in southern and eastern Australia including Tasmania.
An adult male will weigh 50 to 66 kg and can be grow up to two metres tall while females weigh 17 to 40 kg and are shorter.
Other than wedge-tailed eagles their only natural predators are dingoes and before their extermination, Tasmanian Tigers.
The two animals faced off in an inter-species spat in Port Lincoln, near Sleaford, in South Australia
I have you now! The kangaroo comes very close to hitting the eagle when it makes a low and slow swoop, hovering within reach of the marsupial
The inter-species spat was recorded in a rural area close to Sleaford on the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia that overlooks the Great Australian Bight.
Sleaford land is used for farming and conservation and home to other species of bird, wallabies, emus, goannas and sea lions.
Did that just happen? The kangaroo stands in the field and looks around after the fight, seemingly surprised with what just happened