Phantom kangaroo facts for kids

A phantom kangaroo is when people report seeing kangaroos, wallabies, or their footprints in places where these animals don't naturally live. These sightings are often a mystery!

Sometimes, these "phantom" animals might be real kangaroos or wallabies that have escaped from a zoo or a circus. Other times, people might be playing a trick, perhaps using photos from Australia to get attention. Some experts even think that many sightings happening at once could be a form of mass hysteria, where lots of people imagine seeing the same thing.

Phantom Kangaroos Around the World

People have reported seeing phantom kangaroos and wallabies in many different countries. Let's explore some of these mysterious sightings!

France: Wallabies in the Wild

It's sometimes said that kangaroos live in the wild near a town called Émancé, which is about 50 kilometers (31 miles) southwest of Paris. But actually, these aren't kangaroos! They are red-necked wallabies.

These wallabies are descendants of a group that escaped from a wildlife park in the 1970s. They have been living and breeding in the wild ever since!

Japan: Mountain Mysteries

Between 2003 and 2010, there were many reports of phantom kangaroo sightings in the Mayama mountain area of Ōsaki, Miyagi city in Miyagi Prefecture. People wondered what these mysterious creatures could be!

New Zealand: Giant Leaps and Island Colonies

New Zealand has had some interesting kangaroo and wallaby stories.

Early Sightings in Dusky Sound

In 1831, two sailors from a ship called the Sydney Packet told officials in Australia about something amazing. They claimed to have seen a giant kangaroo, about nine meters (30 feet) tall, at a small bay in Dusky Sound. They watched it from their small boat near the trees. When they got too close, it supposedly leaped into the water and swam away, leaving a huge splash!

Wallabies on Kawau Island

Kawau Island in the Hauraki Gulf is home to a group of three different types of wallabies. These wallabies are there because a man named Sir George Grey, who was a Governor in the 1800s, purposely brought them to the island.

Wild Wallabies in South Island

New Zealand also has wild wallabies living in the Waimate District on the South Island. These wallabies were brought there in the late 1800s for hunting.

United Kingdom: Escaped Zoo Animals

The United Kingdom has actual groups of red-necked wallabies living in the wild!

Staffordshire's Wallaby Population

In Staffordshire, a group of wallabies started living in the wild after they escaped from a private zoo in Leek in the 1930s. Their numbers seemed to grow a lot in the 1970s, reaching about 60 to 70 animals.

However, between 2000 and 2007, no one officially saw them, and some local people thought they might have died out. But in 2009, newspapers reported new wallaby sightings, even with clear pictures! There were also reports from 2008. In recent years, BBC News has shared many stories about wallabies being seen all over the UK.

Inchconnachan Island Wallabies

Inchconnachan, an island in Loch Lomond in Scotland, also has a group of wallabies. Lady Arran Colquhoun brought them to the island in the 1920s.

Other UK Sightings

More sightings have happened, like a Bennett’s wallaby filmed by a zoologist in Highgate Cemetery in London in October 2013. An albino (all-white) wallaby was also seen in Northamptonshire in 2015.

United States: Mysterious Leapers

The United States has had its share of phantom kangaroo reports, often sparking curiosity and sometimes a bit of a puzzle.

Tennessee's "Kangaroo-like Beast"

In 1934, near South Pittsburg, Tennessee, several people reported seeing a strange kangaroo-like animal over five days. This creature was said to have killed and partly eaten several animals, including ducks, geese, and even a German Shepherd police dog. This was very unusual because kangaroos are usually calm and only eat plants.

One witness said the animal looked "like a large kangaroo, running and leaping across a field." A search party followed its tracks to a cave, but the animal was never found. News about this mystery spread across the country, though some people found it hard to believe.

Chicago's City Kangaroo

In 1974 in Chicago, Illinois, two police officers were called because someone reported a kangaroo on their porch! The officers found the animal in an alley but couldn't catch it. Over the next month, many kangaroo sightings were reported in Illinois and nearby states like Indiana and Wisconsin. It seemed like there might have been more than one animal.

A paperboy saw a kangaroo the next day. A week later, one was seen in Schiller Woods, Illinois. The week after that, a police officer reported seeing one jump eight feet from a field onto the road near Plano, Illinois. Thirty minutes later, a kangaroo was reported back in Chicago, then seen again in the countryside for the next three days. A few days later, there were many sightings in Indiana. The reports stopped about a month after the first one.

Wisconsin's Highway Wallaby

In 1978 in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, two men took a picture of a large kangaroo next to the highway. An expert on North American kangaroo sightings, Loren Coleman, thought the animal looked like a Bennett's wallaby, which is a smaller type of wallaby.

Oklahoma and New York Videos

In 2013 in Oklahoma, hunters reportedly filmed a kangaroo in a field. The video was shared online, and people wondered if it was a pet kangaroo that had gone missing in the state a year earlier.

Also in 2013, a newspaper called The Ridgefield Press reported that a driver in North Salem, New York filmed what he thought was a kangaroo. The newspaper noted that escaped wallabies, which are smaller than kangaroos, were known to be in Westchester County, where North Salem is located. Several people in the county had kept wallabies as pets.