Kangaroos loose in French theme park breakout
French police are hunting for three kangaroos sprung from an Australian theme park in an apparent vandalism spree
The marsupial trio were among 15 kangaroos which initially escaped from Le Parc Australien in the French town of Carcassone, prompting a major search operation involving gendarmes, firefighters and police across southwestern France.
“When we arrived on Saturday morning, five pens had been broken open, their padlocks were smashed and the perimeter fence was torn in several places,” the owner of the park, Carole Masson, told Agence France-Presse. “We had 15 missing kangaroos — it was complete panic.”
Most of the animals were rounded up in nearby woods but local drivers have been warned to look out for the remaining three in case they stray onto the busy Toulouse-Narbonne autoroute.
“They are not aggressive or nervous animals by nature,” Masson said. “They’re probably just grazing quietly away somewhere.”
Strangely, France already has a community of wild wallabies in the forest of Rambouillet, west of Paris. Around 50 of the creatures escaped from a wildlife park 30 years ago and have been living and breeding in the forest ever since.