By Craig Butt and Natalie Croxon
A jogger out for a pre-dawn run has been injured after a car slammed into a kangaroo, flipping the animal into him.
Sam Walter, 28, said the bizarre collision might have been karma for his choice of dinner on Tuesday night - kangaroo steak.
He sustained leg injuries when the kangaroo was propelled towards him "like a football" by the impact.
"It was actually airborne and it took me out," he said.
The attack left a little girl with injuries to her head and chest.
Mr Walter had been out on one of his regular runs in the appropriately-named suburb of Kangaroo Flat on Wednesday morning when the roo hopped into the path of an oncoming car.
He said the car turned on its high-beam lights when it spotted the animal, but it was not enough to avert a crash.
Ambulance Victoria spokesman Paul Bentley said paramedics treated a man at the scene in Phyllis Street about 6am on Wednesday, but that he didn't need to taken to hospital.
But Mr Walter took a trip there on Wednesday anyway to borrow some crutches until the muscle injury he sustained heals.
A police spokeswoman said the driver of the car was the only person in the vehicle at the time and was uninjured in the crash.
The poor kangaroo was not so lucky, and had to be euthanised because of its injuries.
The number of kangaroos hit by cars has surged in recent years, with more than 4000 callouts for the injured marsupials last year.
RACV figures also show that 8 out of 10 car insurance claims from a collision with an animal last year involved kangaroos.
A growing number of people are also being injured in these collisions.
In March, nine cyclists were hurt when they ploughed into a kangaroo carcass on the side of a Shepparton road and spun into the path of an oncoming four-wheel-drive.
Wildlife Victoria spokeswoman Amy Hidge said authorities sometimes received 40 to 50 calls a day about kangaroos being struck by vehicles.
"It is certainly not a reflection of kangaroo populations - they have been coming into contact with motorists more because of habitat destruction," she said.
Mr Walter said the incident had not put him off running, although he would perhaps be a little more careful when cars approached.
"It's pretty bizarre," he said.
- with the Bendigo Advertiser
Where do crashes with animals happen in Victoria?
To report injured wildlife contact Wildlife Victoria on 1300 094 535 or using their online form