Loose pet kangaroo keeps police hopping in a Colorado town

The pet kangaroo named Irwin got loose twice, and Colorado police chased and returned it to owners. The cops aren't sure if they could help once it grows large. They want owners to be responsible with their pet

Washington: Chasing a loose kangaroo is getting to be part of the job for police in a southwestern Colorado town.

Irwin, the pet kangaroo, wasn’t difficult to nab when he got loose last fall in Durango, Colorado. Still quite young at the time, he leapt into a bag similar to a mother kangaroo’s pouch.

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On Monday, Irwin got loose again. A police caller was worried he might get hit by a car. This time, Irwin had grown too big for a bag. “That technique wasn’t going to work. The officers were debating whether they needed to lasso it or what the plan was,” police Cmdr. Nick Stasi said on Tuesday.

Officer Shane Garrison — described by Stasi as a “farm boy” with animal-handling experience — figured it out after following Irwin down an alley and into a backyard. Irwin was still small enough, about as big as a medium-sized dog, for Garrison to corner him near a house, sneak up close and grab him.

He carried the kangaroo to a police truck’s back seat and shut the door, as seen in a different officer’s body camera video.

Kangaroos are among the unusual but legal animals to keep in Colorado. Irwin was taken home to his family in downtown Durango, a tourism hub of 20,000 residents that is known for mountain tours on a narrow-gauge train.

Stasi wasn’t sure how Irwin got out, but this 2-year-old pet will get only harder to catch. By age 4 or 5, kangaroos can grow taller than most men and weigh 90 kg. They can hop much faster than a person runs and deliver a powerful kick. “We want all pet owners to be responsible with their pet, how they keep it and keep it safe,” said Stasi. AP