SYDNEY — A "grieving" male kangaroo photographed holding his dead mate in his arms was actually trying to mate with her, according to scientists.
Photographer Evan Switzer's pictures of the Eastern Grey kangaroos went viral this week. The world's press jumped to claim they depicted a "marsupial family's grief" as a mourning male kangaroo cradled his dead mate in his arms and a confused joey looked on, the Guardian reported.
However, the Australian Museum's principal research scientist for terrestrial vertebrates, Mark Eldridge, said the male kangaroo was trying to mate.
The evidence the male kangaroo was aroused was "sticking out from behind his scrotum," Eldridge told an Australian Museum blog.
And as if the aroused male's necrophilia wasn't bad enough, a senior lecturer in veterinary pathology from the University of Sydney said the male might even have killed the female while trying to mate with her.
Derek Spielman from the University of Sydney also told the Guardian the male was "mate guarding" to keep other males away.
"Competition between males to mate with females can be fierce and can end in serious fighting," Spielman told the Guardian.
"It can also cause severe harassment and even physical abuse of the target female, particularly when she is unresponsive or tries to get away from an amorous male."
