A kangaroo socked a Canadian cop in the face on Monday as it was being captured after four days on the run.
The ’roo slipped her handlers on Friday during a rest stop at Oshawa Zoo, some 45 miles northeast of Toronto. She was being transported to a zoo in Quebec, Reuters reports
The 4-year-old kangaroo, a female, remained AWOL over the weekend, stunning motorists who spotted her hopping alongside their vehicles on highways and roads.
Officers finally located the marsupial on a rural property near Oshawa after receiving reports from members of the public.
They “managed to sneak up behind her and grab her tail” at around 3 a.m. Monday when she “stopped to take a little break,” according to a statement released by Durham Regional Police. The tail-grabbing technique was advised by the animal’s handlers.
However, one cop was hit in the face during the detention, Durham Regional Police Staff Sgt. Chris Boileau told reporters.
“It’s something that he and his platoon mates will be remembering for the rest of their careers,” Boileau told CBC Toronto.
“The kangaroo gave up and surrendered peacefully to police officers,” the police statement reads. “She then received a ride in one of our K9 kennels back to the zoo where she is being examined,” and she will “continue with her journey to Quebec in the near future.”
Kangaroos are native to Australia and Papua New Guinea. The ’roo that went on the loose in Canada was born and bred in captivity.
“Both male and female kangaroos are large, powerful, wild animals that are capable of inflicting injury on people and they need to be treated with an appropriate level of respect and caution,” Australia’s Queensland Government warns on its website.
In 2020, a kangaroo was caught on camera trying to drown a small dog in a Brisbane river. The pooch was only saved by a brave bystander.
Last year, a 77-year-old man in Redmond was killed by a wild kangaroo he’d reportedly been keeping as a pet, in what was believed to be the first fatal kangaroo attack since 1936.
The BBC in 2022 also reported a woman suffering a broken leg and a 3-year-old receiving serious head injuries in two separate ’roo attacks.