Runaway pet kangaroo named Buster hops through New York

IT’S more than a hop, skip and jump from Australia. But Buster the kangaroo has made it to New York City and is on the run.

Buster the Kangaroo Staten Island. Picture: Facebook

A RUNAWAY pet kangaroo named Buster caused a stir in New York City after escaping a menagerie.

Two mechanics arrived at their auto-repair shop on Travis Avenue, Staten Island, about 8am Saturday (11pm Saturday AEDT) to find the male marsupial bouncing around the parking lot.

“I pulled in and thought it was a deer,” Bleron Osmani told The New York Post. “So I went to nudge it with my car to move it out of the way, and I saw it lift up its two arms and I said, ‘That’s not a deer!’”

“We were afraid he would go out on the street and get hurt,” Bleron added.

His brother Urim said: “We thought maybe it was from the zoo, so we called the police.”

Buster had hopped two houses down from the Victory Boulevard home of Giovanni Schirripa, 33, known as Johnny, a serial exotic-animal owner who has kept zebras, peacocks and roosters as pets.

“Johnny loves animals,” a neighbour said. “I looked out the upstairs window, and I saw the kangaroo. And I thought, ‘Oh, it’s Johnny’s kangaroo.’”

He said he called Schirripa and told him to come get his one-metre-tall buddy.

“Johnny came up and picked up the kangaroo in his arms,” the neighbour said.

Apparently, the Australian import bounded to freedom when someone left the gate of a backyard enclosure unlatched. It bounced around for 10 to 15 minutes before being captured, police said.

Cops did not charge or ticket Schirripa, who claimed the kangaroo lives with his brother upstate legally and was only visiting. It is illegal to keep such an animal in New York City.

He had a similar tail of woe in 2012, when a zebra and a miniature pony escaped his urban jungle and trotted through traffic before being lassoed.

Schirripa told authorities at the time that he had a permit for a petting zoo starring Razzi the Zebra. But the city Health Department told The New York Post no such license had been issued.

He also claimed he shipped the pony and zebra away to Phillipsburg, New Jersey.

“When [the Health Department] first got here, they questioned me about the whereabouts of the zebra,” Schirripa said at the time. “And I told them, ‘I don’t have to tell you anything about the zebra. It’s just not here.’”

Instead, the Health Department slapped him with violations for housing three roosters and three peacocks.

Buster the Kangaroo Staten Island. Picture: Facebook

Saving Souls Rescue, a non-profit that helps abandoned pit bulls, is listed at the Victory Boulevard address. A woman at the home refused to speak to a reporter.

As for the latest outlaw animal, a neighbour said that he found Buster in his back yard two weeks ago.

“It’s a bit normal around here. It’s happened before,” he said.

Schirripa told cops Buster would be sent back upstate immediately. But no cars with a skippy in it were seen leaving the house on Saturday.

The New York Post did spot a cockatoo and two guard dogs, and heard chickens and roosters on the sprawling property. (Roosters are also illegal to keep in the city.)

“Johnny’s always got something,” another neighbour said. “He walks around with a snake around his neck.”

This story originally appeared in The New York Post.