Authorities scrambled after a kangaroo escaped its Staten Island home.
A legally kept kangaroo in Staten Island escaped and bounced around the city this weekend.
The kangaroo was free for 15 minutes on Saturday under the Verrazano Bridge before authorities could round it up at around 8 a.m. after it managed to escape its enclosure via an unlocked gate in the 6-foot-high fence that was meant to keep him in, according to a New York Daily News report.
Witnesses reported seeing the kangaroo hopping about the streets seemingly without a care in the world, confusing residents, some of whom thought it was a deer at first, according to the report. When they realized it was a kangaroo, they thought maybe it had escaped from a nearby zoo, but police believe a man was keeping it legally.
And the man they suspect has been in the news before: back in 2012, a zebra and a Shetland pony escaped from a stable in this neighborhood, and in both cases they belonged to John Schirripa, according to the report.
The kangaroo, named Buster, managed to find an unsecure gate and made his escape, prompting several to call 911 after seeing it bounding about. The cops cornered the kangaroo and the owner showed up soon after, claiming the kangaroo belonged to his brother.
No charges have been filed, and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals hasn’t announced any intention to take action. Buster will stay in his owner’s custody. Police believe it actually is legal to possess a kangaroo, at least where he is from, and he was only believed to be visiting the area, so there was no violation, according to the report.
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