Wisconsin kangaroo remains a mystery
Posted February 28, 2005, 11:57 AM EST
DODGEVILLE, Wis. -- Authorities in southern Wisconsin have discovered that capturing a kangaroo in a snowstorm isn't the hard part. It's finding out where the animal came from.
Authorities recently gave up their hunt for the owner of a red 130-pound marsupial, saying its origin will remain a mystery.
The Iowa County Sheriff's Office has given the Henry Vilas Zoo in Madison permission to keep the kangaroo, nicknamed Roo. The animal has been in quarantine at the zoo since its capture early January.
Sheriff's deputies corralled the male kangaroo in a barn after receiving calls from shocked residents who had seen it hopping through rural parts of Dodgeville for two days.
"We're almost two months out since the incident occurred. I would imagine that the owner is not coming forward," Iowa County Sheriff Steve Michek said.
Michek said deputies ruled out several claims of ownership, including one from a Connecticut woman who said her kangaroo was missing. An Appleton, Wis., man also claimed he had lost a kangaroo in September, but his description did not match that of the animal.
Zoo officials plan to introduce the marsupial, which has been deemed healthy, to their other five kangaroos this spring when the weather warms up.
Copyright © 2005, Orlando Sentinel
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