Escaped kangaroo keeps police hopping on Staten Island

TRAVIS (WABC) -- Police on Staten Island found themselves responding to an unusual call Saturday morning: an escaped kangaroo.

At 8:36, police from the 121st Precinct responded to a 911 call of a 'wild' animal spotted in a backyard on Victory Blvd in the Travis section.

When officers arrived, they spotted a 1-year old kangaroo named 'Buster', who belongs to a man from upstate New York who had allegedly brought it to show a friend.

The animal apparently escaped through the gate of a neighboring yard and made a brief run to freedom.

Buster, who weighs 22 pounds and stands 3 feet tall, was soon located and recovered by his owner.

Witnesses first spotted the runaway marsupial in the parking lot of an auto repair shop.

Shop owner Urim Osmani said when he arrived for work, he saw Buster kneeling down about 20 feet away. He assumed it was a deer from a nearby wildlife refuge.

"Then he stood up," Osmani said. "I said, 'What's a kangaroo doing on Staten Island?'"

While it is illegal to possess a kangaroo and many other non-domesticated animals in New York City, it is not illegal Upstate.

No charges were filed by police.

According to the Staten Island Advance, Buster's breakout occurred on the same block where a zebra named Razzi and a pony named Casper escaped three years ago and took a stroll down a busy thoroughfare before they were lured back home with food.

(Some information from the Associated Press.)