- Baxter, a kangaroo, spent Wednesday hopping along Louisiana highways, per WBRZ-TV.
- A parrot, named Thor, had unlocked the enclosure door, setting Baxter free, the owners said.
- The owners have a week to find a new home for the kangaroo, or they face being fined.
A kangaroo spent a day running loose in Zachary, Louisiana, after a parrot set it free by unlocking the door of its enclosure, according to the ABC News affiliate WBRZ-TV.
The kangaroo, called Baxter, was seen hopping at speed alongside a highway near Baton Rouge on Wednesday morning, WBRZ-TV reported.
Ethan Nelson, who was driving when he witnessed the marsupial on the run, told WBRZ-TV that he was in disbelief when he and his brother spotted Baxter.
"He said, 'there's a kangaroo on the side of the road!' I was like, 'what are you talking about?' I turned around, and sure enough, there was a kangaroo," Nelson said, per WBRZ-TV.
The kangaroo had escaped an enclosure belonging to two people who had previously run a zoo but now operate a non-profit specializing in releasing wild birds into their natural habitats, East Baton Rouge Animal Control told WBRZ-TV on Friday.
Baxter currently lives alongside more than a dozen parrots, including a bird called Thor.
Thor, according to the owners, had recently worked out how to unlock the door to Baxter's enclosure, per WBRZ-TV.
It was several hours before the freed kangaroo was spotted by law enforcement, the local media outlet said. An East Baton Rouge sheriff's deputy was able to catch Baxter by drawing him in with peanut butter, WBRZ-TV said.
The owners picked them up but were informed that they would soon have to give him up.
Exotic animals not native to the US are not allowed to be kept as pets in East Baton Rouge parish.
The owners now have a week to find Baxter a new home, or they face being fined, said Daniel Piatkiewicz, director of the local animal control center, per WBRZ-TV.