UPDATE: A RARE albino kangaroo has died before rescuers could reach it in the flooded Murray River.

The Wildlife Information, Rescue and Education Service was attempting to rescue the animal this afternoon near the NSW-Victoria border.

The "extremely rare" kangaroo was trapped by a strip of land and accessible only by boat. Rescuers had planned to either lift it into a boat or tow it alongside the boat to safety.

But WIRES said that when the rescuers reached the land the kangaroo had already died, most likely of hunger and exhaustion.