Kentucky State Police got a peculiar call last Thursday morning. A red tail kangaroo was hopping loose somewhere between Richmond and Berea, Kentucky. His name was Hunter, and his owner had reached out to report him as missing.
According to Kentucky State Police Trooper Justin Kearney, the call came in just before 11 a.m. KSP responded with Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife officers to the Gibson Bay area of Richmond, the place where Hunter had last been spotted. They searched the area, but did not find him at the time. They had no choice but to resume searching another day in another area.
Hunter’s owner, Sara Phillips, took the search to community Facebook groups as the morning continued. Several people in those groups took the post for a prank and cracked jokes about Hunter, suggesting he’d turn up in an “IHOP” and offering other silly suggestions. Recent bobcat sightings in the area had been mischaracterized as mountain lions, and a missing kangaroo struck some readers as another in a string of unbelievable wildlife claims.
But the kangaroo, by every available account, was real. And now, he’s found his way back home. Hunter returned home around 7 p.m. on Thursday. Kentucky State Police, posting an update on social media, thanked the people who had helped keep an eye out for him.
What Happened in Richmond
Trooper Justin Kearney, the public affairs officer for Kentucky State Police Post Seven, said troopers responded with Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife officers to the Gibson Bay area of Richmond after the initial call for Hunter came in. As stated, the crews searched the area but were not able to find the kangaroo at the time.
The skepticism Phillips was met with was partly informed by a recent run of local sightings in which residents had reported mountain lions that biologists later identified as bobcats. After a string of false claims, a kangaroo seemed to some posters like one more piece of social-media wildlife folklore. Except this time, this wasn’t a prank and Hunter was quite real.
Hunter’s Return Home
Hunter returned home around 7 p.m. on Thursday, according to Kentucky State Police, almost as if nothing had happened. Kearney called the positive update on the kangaroo’s whereabouts one “he didn’t have on the calendar”. He thanked the community for paying attention. The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife also took part in the response.
“Not your typical ‘be on the lookout,'” Kearney joked. “But we appreciate everyone who shared information and helped keep an eye out.” Hunter has since been reunited with Phillips. It’s unclear how the kangaroo got out in the first place, however.