A female kangaroo slid a few steps backwards to the amazement of picnickers in Lake Macquarie, New South Wales, despite the myth that the Australian marsupial can’t walk backwards.Footage of the encounter, shared with Storyful by TikTok user @veronicadownunder, shows the roo taking a few steps backwards before turning and hopping away.Associate Professor Graeme Coulson from the University of Melbourne, a specialist in kangaroo behavior and ecology, told ABC that a kangaroo can walk backwards, “but it’s not graceful.”The widespread belief that kangaroos cannot walk backwards could stem from the animal’s presence on the Commonwealth Coat of Arms.According to the Australian Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet: “The shield is held up by the native Australian animals the kangaroo and the emu, which were chosen to symbolize a nation moving forward, based on the fact that neither animal can move backwards easily.”Kangaroos are common in Lake Macquarie, with guests encouraged to keep their distance from the wild animals and refrain from feeding them. Credit: @veronicadownunder via Storyful