Police detain a rogue kangaroo spotted hopping around Fort Lauderdale

A rogue kangaroo was arrested by police in Fort Lauderdale.

The animal was spotted bouncing around a Florida neighborhood on July 16. Police received multiple calls about the kangaroo on the loose before they eventually detained the marsupial.

But a kangaroo usually doesn’t end up hopping through the streets without being someone’s kangaroo. That honor goes to 24-year-old Anthony Macias who owns the 2-year-old animal named Jack.

“He’s so nice,” Macias told the Sun-Sentinel. “He doesn’t mean anyone any harm.”

Jack escaped from Macias’ home but the owner won’t be getting the pet back. Fort Lauderdale is unsurprisingly not zoned for kangaroos. Macias wasn’t aware and said he had plans to call the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to find out which licenses he would need.

“I was taking out the recycle bin and I didn’t shut the gate all the way,” Macias said. “I guess he just punched his way through.”

Macias was at work when the incident happened and he reached out to local police expecting to have Jack returned to him. The owner got the kangaroo from a previous owner who was moving and no longer wanted him. However, Macias told Sun-Sentinel that while he can’t legally keep Jack around, his friends over in Palm Beach County are permitted to and will let him stay at their house.

Nevertheless, not all Fort Lauderdale officials were happy about the situation.

“It’s a jungle out there,” Mayor Dean Trantalis said, according to the Sun-Sentinel. “How bizarre for someone to keep a wild animal in their house. Maybe it will end up at one of our zoos. I’m hoping they find a safe place for it.”

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