Escaped Kangaroo Sends Waco Police on a Very Unusual Chase

Waco police officers had a very different kind of call this week when a kangaroo got loose and started hopping through town.

The kangaroo, named Bingus, escaped from Waco Wildlife Rescue on Monday and was later captured after police and handlers worked to get the animal back safely. According to the Associated Press, the Waco Police Department said Bingus was returned to a local wildlife rescue after a short pursuit.

It was the kind of call that sounds made up until the video shows otherwise.

Police shared footage of the chase on social media, showing Bingus bounding away as people tried to corral him. The department leaned into the oddness of the moment, calling it a “hop pursuit” and joking that it was becoming “roo-tine,” according to PerthNow’s report on the video.

The kangaroo was eventually caught and returned safely, but not before giving Waco one of the stranger animal stories Texas has seen lately.

The kangaroo was spotted in the Alta Vista area

The call reportedly came in Monday morning after the kangaroo was seen loose in Waco’s Alta Vista area. The Beaumont Enterprise reported that police received the call around 10:07 a.m. for a marsupial loose near 2718 La Salle Avenue. The kangaroo had escaped from Waco Wildlife Rescue, which is located along Robinson Avenue.

That is not exactly the animal most people expect to see wandering through Central Texas.

The kangaroo was later captured along Robinson Drive and returned to its handlers, according to the same report. Waco Wildlife Rescue had not issued a public comment on the escape at the time of that reporting.

It was not the facility’s first kangaroo escape

The strangest part may be that this was not the first time kangaroos have gotten loose from the same rescue.

In September 2025, two kangaroos escaped from Waco Wildlife Rescue after an employee reportedly left multiple gates open, KCEN reported, according to the Beaumont Enterprise. It was not clear whether Bingus was one of the kangaroos involved in that earlier escape.

That detail turns the story from “random animal loose in town” into something much more memorable. Waco police were not dealing with a stray dog, a loose cow, or even a raccoon in somebody’s garage. They were chasing down a kangaroo that apparently knew how to make an exit.

Texas has seen more than one kangaroo escape lately

Bingus was not even the only kangaroo escape tied to Texas recently.

The Beaumont Enterprise reported that another kangaroo, known as Little Rex, escaped from its owner in Elmendorf, near San Antonio, on May 21. Police there said Little Rex was found near F.M. 327 after going missing during overnight storms. \

That means Texas saw two kangaroo escapes in less than a week, which is a sentence that somehow feels very hard to say with a straight face.

The Waco incident was also reportedly the third kangaroo escape in the United States this year. Another kangaroo, named Chesney, escaped from a petting zoo in Wisconsin in March.

Police said Bingus made it home safe

Despite the funny footage and social media jokes, the main outcome was a good one: Bingus was caught and returned safely.

The Waco Police Department said no officers or wildlife were injured, according to PerthNow. The department’s social media post also said the “escape artist” was home safe and sound. (PerthNow)

The video drew plenty of attention online, partly because the scene looked so out of place. A kangaroo hopping through Waco is the kind of thing people stop scrolling for, especially when police are involved and the animal appears determined not to cooperate.

For Waco officers, it was not a typical patrol call. For Bingus, it may have simply been a short-lived Texas adventure that ended with a ride home.