PLATTE CITY, Mo. – A wayward wallaby is back in custody after wandering away from home and onto the grounds of a Northland retirement home on Thursday morning, authorities said.
According to the Platte County Sheriff’s Department, the wallaby was spotted trapped in a fence at the Hillview Nursing Center in the 200 block of O’Rourke Drive in Platte City.
The owner of the wallaby lives nearby. According to the owner’s daughter, the animal – named “Noah” – escaped after a family member accidentally left a gate unlatched. She told FOX 4 that the family had been searching for it for several hours.
Authorities say that there is some question as to whether the owners were allowed to keep the wallaby, citing city and state exotic animal laws. Officials from the Kansas City Zoo arrived on the scene and put the wallaby in a cage and transported it back to the zoo, where it will stay until the animal’s legal status is clarified.
A wallaby is an Australian native similar to, but smaller than, a kangaroo.
