"It's deadset serious. Someone should get a gun and shoot the buggers," Alwyn Bailey told the Cairns Post. "They're not just friendly, cute little wallabies any more -- they're killers."

Bailey said that his son, Morgan, 9, was attacked last Saturday outside the paddock where the family keeps its horses. He said that the wallaby chased Morgan, backing off only after Bailey hit it several times and a younger son picked up a stick.

Wallaby is a catch-all name for about 30 related species of marsupial mammals. They have a wide range in size although they are generally smaller than kangaroos.

A spokesman for the Australian Environmental Protection Agency said that wild animals should not be fed because they lose their fear of humans and come to expect food. They may become aggressive if they see or smell food and do not get it. Morgan had been feeding bread to the horses just before the attack.