Hervey Bay's Evan Switzer captured the images of a male kangaroo apparently cradling the head of a dead female as a joey looks on but Australian Museum mammalogist Mark Eldridge said they have been "fundamentally misinterpreted".

Dr Eldridge said Mr Switzer captured the male in a state of sexual arousal, not mourning her loss, as the photographer perceived him to be.  

"The kangaroo is not, unfortunately, 'propp[ing] up her head so she could see her joey before she died," he said.

"This is a male trying to get a female to stand up so he can mate with her." 

Mr Switzer came across the three kangaroos while walking his dogs in bushland at River Heads, south of Hervey Bay on Monday afternoon.

He said the male repeatedly attempted to stand his mate up, only to have her fall to the ground, a scene he described as "truly amazing" and interpreted as the buck mourning the dead female.

But while the photographs captured worldwide attention for the male's perceived tenderness, Dr Eldridge said it is not the true love story it appears to be.

He said the image of the male apparently cradling the head of the dead female actually shows he is in a state of sexual arousal.

"The male is clearly highly stressed and agitated, his forearms are very wet from him licking himself to cool down," he said.

"He is also sexually aroused, the evidence is here sticking out from behind the scrotum (yes, in marsupials the penis is located behind the scrotum)."

"Eastern Grey kangaroos can breed throughout the year but mating mainly occurs in spring and early summer.

"The younger individual is probably the female last pouch young who may be still suckling."

Mr Switzer said the buck was clearly distressed, which he took to mean he was in mourning.

"I noticed the male standing over the female tying to pick her up," Mr Switzer said.

"She did fall out of his arms, he would try and stand her up and she slipped through and hit the ground.

"He kept on going back to try and lift her up, making this distressed sort of noise."

EARLIER: A Queensland photographer has captured a heartbreaking scene of mourning in the wild, in which a male kangaroo cradles his dead mate as a joey looks on.

Evan Switzer was walking his dog in bushland at River Heads, south of Hervey Bay, on Monday afternoon, when he came across the three kangaroos, one of which had recently died.

He watched on as the male repeatedly attempted to stand his mate up, only to have her fall to the ground, a scene he described as "truly amazing".

"I noticed the male standing over the female tying to pick her up," Mr Switzer said.

"She did fall out of his arms, he would try and stand her up and she slipped through and hit the ground."

The retiree said the male circled his dead mate, making distressed noises that stopped when he tried to pick her up.

"I came home and got the camera and went back down and got in nice and close," he said.

"He kept trying to stand her up, and the little joey was looking on, the male laid down and gave her a nudge and was clawing at her, trying to wake her."

Mr Switzer said while the buck chased away other kangaroos, he did not appear to mind his presence.

At one point when the male and the joey left the female's body, he said he went over to check her, feeling that her body was still warm, an indication her death was very recent.

He said it was not immediately clear what had caused her to die.

"He kept on going back to try and lift her up, making this distressed sort of noise," he said.

"It was a sad sort of feeling, you understand the loss.

"If they mate for life, I don't know, but having a joey there with the buck, it sort of seemed like one little family.

"Losing the mum was obviously devastating, the buck was pretty distressed."

Mr Switzer, a retired member of the Australian Army, said he watched on as the scene continued for an hour.

"He was still doing it, when I left, near 5pm," he said.

At the prompting of a friend, Mr Switzer posted the pictures to the Fraser Coast Chronicle Facebook page on Monday night.

A story the newspaper published was quickly seized upon by media across the globe and Mr Switzer has fielded calls from across the United Kingdom and Europe, the United States, as well as across Australia and New Zealand.

He said the level of attention the photos drew had been hugely unexpected.

"I got the first call this morning from London at 3.40 this morning, I stopped to have some breakfast and am making my way through the calls to return," he laughed.

"I expected some feedback from the Chronicle's Facebook page but that was about it."