Yes, that was a kangaroo hopping around Reeder’s Line in Howard Township Tuesday, Chatham-Kent police say.
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The marsupial made a short-lived bid for freedom from Greenview Aviaries, a few kilometers away at 12734 Talbot Trail in Morpeth, south of Ridgetown, police said. Staff quickly rounded up the little kangaroo and returned it safely to the private zoo and park.
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However, someone who tried to make it look as if the kangaroo had made it all the way up to Lambton County could be in trouble with the law.
Ontario Provincial Police West Region sent a message out on X (formerly Twitter) Wednesday afternoon that Lambton OPP received a report of a kangaroo sighting on Douglas Line.
“The video sent to police shows the kangaroo standing on the roadway,” the social media post stated.
A short time later, OPP West Region said the animal had been captured in Chatham-Kent. The post also noted the OPP is considering laying a public mischief charge against the person who reported the Lambton sighting.
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Lambton OPP confirmed late Wednesday afternoon the kangaroo was never in Lambton County.
A female kangaroo made the news after escaping the Oshawa Zoo and Fun Farm Dec. 1, 2023 during her journey to a Quebec zoo. It was recaptured by Durham Regional police Dec. 4.
Michèle Hamers, wildlife campaign manager for World Animal Protection Canada, said there have been several animals that have escaped roadside zoos in the past two or three months.
“It just shows that the situation in Ontario is ridiculous.”
Hamers, who authored a report titled Nothing New at The Zoo, said roadside zoos in Ontario continue to operate without enough scrutiny.
“This is not going to change unless Ontario implements a mandatory zoo licensing system and ends the acquisition of zoo animals for those places that can’t meet the highest animal welfare and public safety standards.”
She said animals often are kept in inappropriate enclosures that can’t properly contain them.
She added the conditions in which animals are kept are a far cry from their natural environment.
“Kangaroos live in Australia. They’re not used to these kinds of temperatures,” Hamers said.
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