MONROE — Jack, an eight-week-old red kangaroo, went on an unauthorized walkabout Tuesday and his absence created a bit of a social media buzz.
His seven-hour adventure began Tuesday morning in Monroe when the roo absconded during a bathroom break.
At about 6 a.m. Tuesday, officers responded to the 300 block of West Main Street after getting a call about a missing kangaroo. The exotic animal took off after being let out of a van to go to the bathroom, Debbie Willis, a Monroe Police Department spokesperson, said.
After a drone search yielded no success, officers went door to door. By 1 p.m., they had located the joey, who was in a neighbor’s carport. Exotic animal experts arrived at the scene to corral the kangaroo and administer calming medication.
“Our animal control officer has the kangaroo, transporting to an animal hospital in Fall City for treatment,” the department said in a tweet.
A woman purchased the baby kangaroo Monday from the Outback Kangaroo Farm in Arlington, Willis said. She then brought Jack to a friend’s house in Monroe.
This kangaroo hopped out of a van Tuesday morning in Monroe. (Monroe Police Department)
Under city code, it’s illegal to bring an exotic animal into Monroe and is considered a gross misdemeanor, which is punishable by a fine of up to $5,000 or a year in jail.
“We are investigating that,” Willis said. “It’s certainly something that we are looking at.”
Willis said it’s the first time she’s ever heard of a kangaroo getting loose in the city of about 20,000.
But Snohomish County has seen a few stray exotic animals from Down Under in recent years.
In 2015, two wallabies went missing over the course of three months in Arlington. It’s unclear whether either of them were ever found.
And an emu named Curious George was killed when a car struck the big bird on the U.S. 2 trestle.
Joey Thompson: 425-339-3449; jthompson@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @byjoeythompson.
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