Runaway kangaroo causes car crash, shuts down Alabama interstate

MACON COUNTY, Ala. (WTVM/Gray News) - A kangaroo has been recaptured after it got loose on the interstate in Alabama, shutting down traffic and causing a car crash.

The animal was spotted hopping down Interstate 85 in Macon County, just south of Auburn, on Tuesday morning.

“I-85 northbound between the 45 and 46 mile marker,” dispatch reported on the scanner. “There’s a kangaroo jumping in the roadway, advised by two separate callers.”

One Auburn resident said her husband saw it leaving work and took a video of the kangaroo jumping on the side of the road.

“That is insane! Where would we find a kangaroo in Alabama?” one traveler, Connie Clanton, said.

The kangaroo caused a single car to crash on the interstate, according to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency

“I thought there had been a wreck, but no, it was a wreck caused by a kangaroo,” Clanton said.

Traffic was stopped on the interstate while officials worked to capture the kangaroo.

“We were just trying to get to some places for this afternoon and didn’t think we’d be stopping for a kangaroo,” Matt Vines, another traveler on I-85, said.

Eventually, the kangaroo’s owner shot her with a tranquilizer gun, according to authorities, and waited for her to settle down. He was then able to put the animal in his car and drive back to the farm where she lives.

“I never thought we’d see a kangaroo on 85,” Vines said.

It is reported that the kangaroo is OK and is resting well after a day filled with adventure and excitement.

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