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29 June 2023
BONNER SPRINGS, Kan. — Police are looking for the owners of a wallaby after they believe a driver it and injured the animal on a metro interstate last night.
Officers from the Bonner Springs and Edwardsville Police Departments found the injured wallaby hiding in tall grass near I-435 and K-32 in Kansas City, Kansas, around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Pictures provided by Bonner Springs police show the wallaby with numerous cuts and injuries.
BONNER SPRINGS, Kan. — Bonner Springs Police found an injured wallaby on I-435 June 28, 2023, They believe it was hit by a car. (PHOTO: Bonner Springs Police)
The officers transported the animal to the police station and gave it a bed to sleep in overnight.
The department said it is working to contact the Kansas City Zoo. They hope to transfer the animal to the zoo where it can be treated for its injuries.
BONNER SPRINGS, Kan. — Bonner Springs Police found an injured wallaby on I-435 June 28, 2023, They believe it was hit by a car. (PHOTO: Bonner Springs Police)
Wallabies are native to Australia, nearly 10,000 miles from where police found this one.
While rare in the Kansas City area, this isn’t the first time police have responded to a roaming wallaby because people sometimes keep them as pets.
In 2014, a wallaby escaped from its owners’ backyard in Olathe and bounced down a neighborhood street.
A different wallaby ended up at the Kansas City Zoo in 2011, after it wandered away from home and onto the property at a Northland retirement center on Thanksgiving.