A young kangaroo that escaped a vehicle trailer Monday evening in Lonoke County was found Tuesday morning safe and unharmed.
Eddie Griffin, who helps his wife run the petting zoo Cockrill’s Country Critters, said they were transferring the kangaroo, Lilly, to a new facility around 8:30 p.m. Monday.
The latch on a trailer door either malfunctioned or wasn’t shut properly, Griffin said, allowing the animal to jump out somewhere near U.S. 167 and West Main Street.
Griffin and others, including Austin police and the Lonoke County sheriff’s office, tried to find and recapture Lilly on Monday evening. Although they were able to spot the animal at times, they were not able to recapture her before it got too dark to continue searching.
A group headed back out Monday morning and found her not far from where she escaped, Griffin said. The group surrounded her, and she jumped right into one person’s arms.
“All we did was lose a lot of sleep over it, if you want to know the truth,” Griffin said.
Griffin said Lilly is little older than a year and about 30 inches tall. They have bottle-raised her since she was a young joey.
Lilly was in transit Monday, Griffin said, because the petting zoo is moving to a larger, 100-acre facility which will have more space for its menagerie of animals including camels, pigs, ponies, rabbits, alpacas and more.
Griffin said this isn’t the first time a kangaroo has escaped. Once, during an event, Griffin said an even younger joey escaped and was not found.
Janice Cockrill-Griffin, owner of the petting zoo, said she took no risks with Lilly the second time around.
“You’re not going in the trailer,” she said, and held the kangaroo for the rest of the journey.