If you’re flying in the vicinity of South Bend Regional Airport (SBD) in Indiana and see what looks like a kangaroo on the ground…well, it might be a kangaroo.
On June 27, local animal control officials got a report of a kangaroo wandering in a wooded area near the airport. “When we got the call we didn’t really think it was a kangaroo,” said Senior Animal Control Officer Kim Lucas. “We thought perhaps someone had seen a deer and mistaken it for a kangaroo.” Both animals are brown and have similar faces and ears, but deer don’t stand on their hind legs, which is what this animal was doing.
The investigating officer caught sight of the animal and confirmed it was a marsupial from the land down under and not one of Bambi’s cousins. The kangaroo evaded capture.
A call was placed to the nearest zoo. All their big-footed marsupials were accounted for. Animal control officials speculate the animal is someone’s pet. Exotic pets like kangaroos are illegal within the city limits.
When time permits, animal control officials continue to head back out to the woods to look for the elusive creature.
The reported size of the animal — about 4 feet tall — suggests it is a young female. If that’s the case, it makes sense that it was seen near the airport. Young female kangaroos are known as flyers.