WATCH: Aussie boxes kangaroo to rescue pet dog

A footage of a zoo worker squaring off for a fight with a kangaroo to save his pet pooch became viral on social media platforms.

In a video uploaded to YouTube on Sunday, 34-year-old Greig Tonkins, an elephant keeper at Taronga Western Plains Zoo in New South Wales, Australia, confronts a gutsy kangaroo that choked his pet dog in the middle of a hunting trip. Tonkins rushes to the kangaroo, which apparently released the dog in the wilderness. Perceiving that it would attack him, Tonkins lands a punch at the marsupial’s face, but it remained on its feet and stared at Tonkins.

After a few days, the video swept Australia and overseas with 4.9 million views on YouTube and several million streams on Facebook. A notable number of social media users were in a jovial mood to fete the “kangaroo punch” by uploading memes of funny kangaroo matches. Despite this controversy, the Taronga Western Plains zoo won’t fire its employee.

Still, one group isn’t pleased with Tonkins’ jab at the Aussie animal, the Humane Society International Australia.

The Guardian Australia reported that the animal rights organization believes that Tonkins should be sacked for hitting the animal. “It is very disturbing of someone of this character has a position there they would have no trouble filling it with someone who respects animals,” Verna Simpson, a director at Humane Society International Australia, told the news site.

“The man in this video should be prosecuted instead of being made out to be a national hero,” Simpson stressed.  Gianna Francesca Catolico