Escaped kangaroo punches cop before being caught by the tail

That was no roo-tine call.

Police in Canada tried to capture an escaped kangaroo that had been on the run since last week by grabbing it by the tail — but not before the hopping-mad fugitive punched one of the cops in the face.

A pair of kangaroos were being transported to a zoo in Quebec last Thursday when one of them, a 4-year-old female born in captivity, escaped its handlers by jumping over their heads during a rest stop at the Oshawa Zoo and Fun Farm in Ontario, the park’s supervisor and head keeper, Cameron Preyde, told CBC Toronto.

Videos circulated on social media Friday showing the runaway marsupial bouncing along roads in the town of Oshawa.

Neighbor Paul Rellinger was shocked to see the mammal — which he initially mistook for a deer — bounding along the road as he was driving his son to school.

“It was a little bit of an odd start to our morning,” Rellinger told CBC. “Who expects to see a kangaroo, especially in this part of the world?”

But the crafty kangaroo’s taste of freedom was short-lived. Around 3 am Monday, cops with the Durham Regional Police were responding to what was cheekily described as a “roo-tine” patrol when they spotted the rogue critter on a rural property in northern Oshawa outside Toronto, where the animal stopped to take “a little break,” according to a press release from the authorities.

They contacted the kangaroo’s handlers and followed “best practices” by grabbing the “wayward marsupial” by the tail as instructed, Staff Sergeant Chris Boileau told CBC.

Despite being “fairly docile,” according to the staff sergeant, the kangaroo did not take kindly to being accosted by officers and socked one of them in the face.

The cop — a rookie on the force — was not seriously injured at the paws of the kangaroo, and Boileau joked that the police won’t be pursuing an investigation into the assault.  

“It’s something that he and his platoon mates will be remembering for the rest of their careers,” Boileau said – and he should know, having had the experience of being roughed up by an escaped emu as a young cop.

“The kangaroo gave up and surrendered peacefully to police officers,” the Regional Police said.

The kangaroo, which was found to be cold and hungry, but otherwise unharmed, was given a ride in a K9 kennel back to the Oshawa Zoo, where it will stay for a few days to recover from its adventure, Preyde said.

“I am very, very relieved,” he said. “I will be getting much better sleep from now on, and I think everybody, kangaroos included, has earned a delicious snack and a nice nap.”