Police are keeping an eye out for a wily kangaroo that is on the loose in Germany's thinly populated back country and hopped away when a patrol arrived.
After three sighting reports including a smartphone videoclip from the public, police in Olsberg, in the Sauerland central highlands, said on Friday they had no doubt the roo existed, but voiced puzzlement about how it got there.
"When a dog escapes round here, the owner usually rings us up," said a spokesman. There have been no missing kangaroo reports.
The Australian marsupials are traded as specialty pets and have never established themselves in the wild in Germany.
Sauerland has bitterly cold and windy winters, very unlike the hot Australian Outback.
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Last summer Sauerland had another escaped kangaroo which police caught and handed over to a breeder.
Asked the police position on kangaroos, the spokesman said, "For us it's analogous to deer and boar."
Patrols routinely check in case such wild animals dart onto highways and cause accidents.
