Kangaroo Collision

May 26, 2007 permalink

On Thursday news channels reported a collision between a vehicle and a kangaroo near Primrose. Police later withdrew the kangaroo story, saying the animal was a deer.

Information provided to Dufferin VOCA indicates the animal really was a kangaroo, which escaped injured but alive. The kangaroo has taken up residence in the chambers of a Dufferin family law judge.

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Misreported kangaroo collision makes news

Thursday May 24 2007, RICHARD VIVIAN, Banner Staff Writer

After hearing of a kangaroo collision in Primrose, Shelburne-area resident Tony Porter raced to make sure Jackie Jr. was safely where he was supposed to be. Much to the man's relief, his three-year-old pet kangaroo was securely in the barn.

"It was pretty upsetting," says the owner of Fuzzy Foot Farm, explaining he had just gotten up Wednesday morning when his wife heard a traffic report which warned commuters of a slowdown on Highway 10, near Highway 89. Drivers were stopping to take a look at a dead kangaroo on the side of the road.

"She comes flying out of the bedroom ... [and] we go chasing down to the barn and he's standing there."

The collision, which was eventually confirmed by police to involve a fawn, not a kangaroo, was reported on several radio and television morning shows, as well as on the Toronto Sun website. Believed at the time to be a rather unusual occurrence for this part of the world, the matter was joked about by many as the information was presented to listeners and viewers.

News of the incident spread after OPP received a call from a passerby at 7:34 a.m., and posted the provided details on a website used to give traffic updates to the media.

"I did question it at the time," says Const. Julia McCuaig, media relations officer out of the OPP provincial communications centre in Orillia. However, she notes the caller was "someone who's familiar with the area because he knew a farmer in that area owned a kangaroo" which lent credibility to the claim.

Concerned about a road hazard, McCuaig posted the information so commuters could be warned to be careful.

"When there's a large object on the road, generally vehicles swerve to miss it or maybe they stop suddenly," she says.

Dufferin OPP and Porter later attended the scene and located the animal in question at the side of the road.

"The way it was laid out, it isn't really a stretch [to think it was a kangaroo], it's just an odd conclusion," Porter says, suggesting anyone who took a close look would quickly realize it was a deer.

"This has affected a lot of people," he continues, noting that during a stop in Shelburne later in the day, people were approaching him virtually in tears after having heard the initial report. "Jackie is alive and well."

Source: Orangeville Banner