Kangaroo attacks are rare in Australia. [Photo Credit: BBC News]

An Australian man has died after being attacked by a kangaroo he had been keeping as a pet, police say.

A relative found the 77-year-old man with serious injuries on Monday at his home in Redmond, about 400km (250 miles) south of Perth.

When paramedics arrived at the rural property, the kangaroo prevented them from treating the man.

Police were forced to shoot the marsupial dead. The man died at the scene.

A police spokesperson told media they believed the man had been attacked by the kangaroo – a wild animal – earlier in the day.

Australia is home to about 50 million kangaroos but attacks are rare.

This is the first fatal one reported in Australia since 1936.