A picture of the lost kangaroo; the red marking on its leg is not blood but dye to help differentiate it from other kangaroos, a spokesperson for the Oshawa Zoo said.
A picture of the lost kangaroo; the red marking on its leg is not blood but dye to help differentiate it from other kangaroos, a spokesperson for the Oshawa Zoo said.
A loose kangaroo that escaped while at a pit stop at the Oshawa Zoo Thursday evening is now safe without any evident injuries, after days on the run. Now, organizations including the Toronto Zoo are questioning why it was even at the Oshawa location to begin with.
Officers spotted the errant 'roo around 3 a.m. Monday, Durham Regional Police told the Star. After communicating with the kangaroo's handlers, she was successfully captured around 6 a.m. that morning in the area of Winchester Road East and Harmony Road North in northern Oshawa.
A spokesperson for the Oshawa Zoo confirmed the kangaroo was captured by the police dog team and is now "safe at the zoo awaiting transport to Quebec."
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW
It appears uninjured, they said: "The red markings everybody might have seen is dye so that it can stand out from our kangaroos."
"It's been given food and fresh water and it is in good shape," said Cameron Preyde, the park supervisor at the Oshawa Zoo and Fun Farm. "... It was a very stressful weekend for all involved, including the kangaroo and I think we've all earned a delicious snack and a bit of rest."
Toronto Zoo questions why kangaroo was at Oshawa Zoo
All that said, the escapade raises questions about why the kangaroo was being temporarily kept at the Oshawa zoo to begin with. According to Oshawa bylaws, kangaroos are prohibited from being kept by zoos, unless the institution is municipally-run.
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW
Michèle Hamers, Wildlife Campaign Manager for World Animal Protection Canada, told the Star she believes the private Oshawa facility is allowed to keep the animals because the zoo existed before the by-law came into effect, grandfathering them into the law.
"What isn't normal is that a municipality will allow such a facility or individual to continue to trade or breed with these animals, because the whole point of this bylaw is to phase out the keeping of (exotic) animals," she continued.
The Oshawa zoo did not yet respond to the Star's queries into why they keep kangaroos and other exotic animals, and the nature of their relationship with the bylaw.
Dolf DeJong, CEO of the Toronto Zoo, noted to the Star that the recent incident sheds light onto the lack of oversight into captive wild animals in the province.
"In this case, you had an animal moving between what we assume are unaccredited sites," DeJong said. "We're not sure where they were heading to and from — and it appears the systems weren't in place to prevent this kangaroo from getting at large."
World Animal Protection and the Toronto Zoo notes the Oshawa facility is unregulated by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, the global standard for animal care in zoo management.
"That's the type of thing we're looking for from sites, is for them to have that level of accreditation," DeJong said. "And in this case, I don't believe they have any accreditation standard."
Addressing the zoo's use of dye to differentiate the kangaroo, Dejong remarked: "I'm not familiar with that practice. Our teams work to have great relationships with our animals, to be able to tell them apart just by looking at them."
"Only a month ago, a serval escaped from a roadside zoo up in Eganville," Hamers said. "If the province doesn't step up and solve this issue, more incidents will happen."
Members from @DRPSCEDiv spotted the missing Kangaroo at approx. 3am this morning. Officers were able to communicate with the Kangaroo's handlers and successfully apprehended him at approx. 6am this morning. The Kangaroo will be checked out by zoo staff but appears uninjured. pic.twitter.com/XnnS3L7XDC
On Thursday evening, a transport vehicle carrying two kangaroos en route to Quebec made a pit stop at the Oshawa Zoo so the animals could "stretch their legs," police said.
It was during this time that one of the kangaroos escaped, and was spotted multiple times the following day.
Durham region's lost pet search group, Team Chelsea, worked to help contain and locate the kangaroo. In a video the team shared on social media, the animal was seen hopping along Winchester Road in north Oshawa on Friday morning.
"It's fast!" someone inside the car can be heard saying in the background.
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW
Later on Friday, a team of volunteers armed with cages, fences and drones descended on one of the last-seen locations of the marsupial — the backyard of Oshawa resident Doug Scott.
The volunteers nearly captured the animal near Scott's barn, but she was able to out-hop and outmaneuver the pursuers, fleeing west into the snow-covered fields.
"I don’t know how the hell she got out of here," Scott marveled. "How high can they jump?"
Although the kangaroo's trail soon went cold over the weekend, the volunteers from Team Chelsea reasoned she was likely sheltering nearby to conserve energy and keep warm.
Police and marsupial experts warned the public to stay away; aside from possessing one large claw designed to disembowel, the animals "can kick, and we don’t want anyone to get hurt or the kangaroo to get hurt,” Janet Grixti with Team Chelsea told the Star on Friday.
Preyde told the Star over the weekend that the lost 'roo is "a pretty innocent creature."
"Sometimes they can be jerks, but yeah. I’m just trying to get this thing back."
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW
With files from Katie Daubs and Abhiraj Lamba
Kevin Jiang is a Toronto-based staff reporter for the Star’s Express Desk. Follow him on X: @crudelykevin.
Kevin Jiang is a digital producer for the Star, based in Toronto. He previously worked as a breaking news reporter in the radio room.
Anyone can read Conversations, but to contribute, you should be a registered Metroland account holder. If you do not yet have a Metroland account, you can create one now (it is free).
To join the conversation set a first and last name in your user profile.
Anyone can read Conversations, but to contribute, you should be a registered Metroland account holder. If you do not yet have a Metroland account, you can create one now (it is free).
To join the conversation set a first and last name in your user profile.
Sign in or register for free to join the Conversation