Wayward wallaroo leads police on ‘crazy adventure’ in 2-hour chase, Illinois cops say

A wallaroo that escaped from its owner gave a small Illinois town and its police department something to cheer about Tuesday.

Wally the wallaroo, a native Australian animal whose size is between that of a kangaroo and a wallaby, got loose from his home in Peru, Illinois, around 1 p.m.

“It was normal, just letting him outside,” owner Nathan Drewel told the News Tribune. “He had his harness and there was one strap that was too loose on him and he got off it and took off. This was the first time.”

Police, firefighters and “many good citizens and city employees” tracked Wally throughout the town of about 10,000 people in the afternoon, the police department wrote on Facebook.

Peru Police Chief Douglas Bernabei said the biggest concern was that Wally would run into traffic, WLS reported.

“We cannot allow this animal to get hit by a car, we just can’t allow that,” Bernabei said. “So we’re going to shut these roads down.”

Wally eventually jumped into the Illinois River and tried to swim across, police said.

A fishing boat crew “navigating the strong and turbulent” waters noticed Wally and scooped him out of the river with a net — ending the two-hour chase.

“It would be very difficult to explain how this crazy adventure affected so many people and how all of the police, fire, city employees and so many citizens were cheering for a rescue before it was too late,” Bernabei said in a news release. “With only seconds to spare the rescue was made.”

Wally was taken to Bridgeview Animal Hospital and was released after warming up for a couple hours, WLS reported.

Bernabei called it “one of the better days of 2020.”

Drewel, who has owned Wally for six to seven months, said he was fortunate the fishermen saved the day.

“It was lucky of them to be there at the time, because (Wally) was kind of giving up, you could tell he was giving up,” he said, according to the News Tribune.

Police said Wally is “lawfully owned and possessed by state permit.”

Wallaroos are rare in the U.S., and it’s illegal to own them in most states, according to The Spruce Pets.

This story was originally published December 3, 2020 at 8:37 AM with the headline "Wayward wallaroo leads police on ‘crazy adventure’ in 2-hour chase, Illinois cops say."