Kangaroo on the loose in Oshawa located but not captured, Oshawa Zoo employee says

A kangaroo that was on the loose east of Toronto on Friday has been located but not captured, according to an Oshawa Zoo employee.

The animal is destined for Quebec but it escaped from animal handlers in Oshawa on Friday, according Cameron Preyde, park supervisor and head keeper for the Oshawa Zoo and Fun Farm.

"It is not our kangaroo," Preyde told CBC Toronto with a big animal net slung over his shoulder.

"We were meant to be a hotel stop for this particular creature on its way to a zoo in Quebec. As the animal handlers last night were trying to unload the animal, it jumped over their heads and escaped," he said.

"And now I have the illustrious job of going out and trying to wrangle this thing in the middle of farm fields in the middle of a snowstorm."

The animal was spotted in the area of Harmony Road North and Winchester Road East in Oshawa at about 7:40 a.m. Two separate videos of the kangaroo moving quickly alongside the road were posted to social media.

Durham Regional Police, for its part, said they received calls about the kangaroo in the area at about 7:41 a.m.

"Members attended the scene but were not able to locate the animal and cleared," police said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

Team Chelsea, a volunteer organization that helps people find lost pets in Durham Region, posted a video on Facebook of the animal hopping along on the south side of Winchester Road East, heading westbound from Harmony Road North. The video was taken at 7:43 a.m. on Friday.

People were advised not to try to capture the animal.

Preyde said the zoo has contacted the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, the police and Team Chelsea for help.

"Everybody is working with us right now to try and get this animal back into a nice, warm, safe place because that's really what matters most at this point in time," he said.

WATCH | Local Paul Rellinger talks about seeing the kangaroo on the loose: