It was a love story that baffled the world. A pig and a kangaroo caught in the throes of passion under the watchful eye of a bemused goose – and they’d been a ‘couple’ for years. So what happened to Australia’s most unlikely lovers?

It was a love story that shocked and stunned the world.

A pig and a kangaroo fell into the throes of passion, while a bewildered goose looked on.

It was June 2016. A simpler time before Covid, Donald Trump’s presidency or the looming threat of World War III broke out at any moment.

And so when Apples the pig and a kangaroo aptly named ‘F*** It’ were photographed being playful – before sharing a loving post-coital embrace – it naturally made headlines around the world.

The Outback farmer who owned the animals revealed at the time that they had been an item for more than a year – and the relationship continued for some time after the spotlight faded.

But unfortunately it has recently emerged that both animals have died.

A worker at the Aileron Roadhouse – just a short walk from where the pair were caught red-handed – revealed that the animals stayed together until their deaths a year or two ago.

Sydney-based PhD student Ryan Frazer told Daily Mail Australia in 2016 that he found the couple cozy when he walked past a meadow in Aileron, near Alice Springs in the Northern Territory, during a research trip.

He took a series of photos showing the kangaroo cuddling the female pig by placing its paws on either side of the animal while crouching in front of her – as if the two animals were hugging each other. There were also two geese in the meadow, and one was watching from close by.

After a few minutes, the kangaroo “worked itself up and went for it,” Frazer said.

“I didn’t even know it was possible,” he added.

“The animals saw us… we met them at the gate and they just stood together in front of us.

‘The kangaroo was torn, a bit aggressive, a bit panting. But the pig stayed with him, nuzzling under his arm, and the kangaroo cuddled the pig for a while.”

Mr Frazer said he and his colleague were “stunned by the affection” the animals had for each other as they spent a few minutes sniffing around.

“Then the kangaroo started hugging the pig from behind, worked himself up a little bit and went for it,” he said.

‘The pig was completely nonchalant about it, not worried at all.

‘We just stood there like, “This is strange. Should we still stand here and watch and take pictures”?

‘When the kangaroo was finished, the pig tried to jump on the kangaroo’s back for a while, perhaps in return… then we decided enough was enough.’

The whole affair lasts about five or ten minutes.

Mr Frazer said he and his colleagues went to a nearby art gallery, where a local resident asked if they had ‘met the kangaroo and the pig’

“I said, ‘Yeah, they look pretty close,’” he said.

‘He said, ‘Yes, the kangaroo has calmed down a lot since the pig got there.’

‘One of my colleagues was from Northern Arizona University and had never seen the Australian outback before.’

Local man and pig owner Greg Dick said he had previously tried to break up the couple but failed, and that they had been “in a relationship” for more than a year.

“I tried to get the pig away the other day, but the kangaroo almost broke the fence down,” Mr. Dick told police. NT news.

‘They are in love.’