Australian couple bit by goanna lizard while trying to save their dog in 'freak ordeal'

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A 72-year-old Australian man and his wife are recovering Friday after they were bitten while trying to break up a scrap between their pet dog and a goanna, in what first responders are calling a “horrific and freak ordeal”.

The raging reptile sank its teeth into the couple yesterday afternoon in Flametree while they were walking their dog, according to ABC News Australia.

"The man suffered a very serious laceration and possible fracture of his right forearm as well as severe bleeding from his leg wound. He was in considerable pain,” the CQ Rescue service told the website, adding that it was a “horrific and freak ordeal.”

A goanna, like the one pictured above, is reported to have attacked a couple in Australia while they were trying to rescue their dog. (iStock)

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An ambulance supervisor interviewed by ABC News Australia says the couple’s Jack Russell dog – reported to have been seriously injured in the attack – was the one that started the fracas.

"Apparently the family dog went chasing this goanna and they got into an altercation and the gentleman tried to save his dog,” Shane Tucker said. "His partner was also on the scene and was trying to separate the dog from the goanna as well, and she also sustained some minor injuries to her foot."

The man was airlifted to a local hospital, where he underwent surgery.

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Goannas are monitor lizards that can grow to more than 6 feet in length and “eat just about anything they can catch and swallow whole," according to Bush Heritage Australia, an environmental non-profit group.

"Unfortunately these lizards basically eat anything that's made out of meat, they're not fussy at all — so rodents, birds, they'll even eat other lizards, other reptiles--so something the size of a small dog or a cat is right up there on the menu for these guys," said Dave Ryan, a reptile trainer at the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, to ABC News Australia.