Escaped Kangaroo In Staten Island Enjoys Short Stint Of Freedom (VIDEO)

Buster the Kangaroo gave neighbors in Staten Island quite the jolt when he escaped Saturday morning from a backyard and hopped amok to go sightseeing.

"It was jumping around, enjoying the freedom and the fun," said Urim Osmani, 34, owner of the Alb's Auto Repair, according to the New York Daily News. "We didn't know what it was."

"We thought it was a deer," said Osmani. "When it came closer, we saw it was a kangaroo. We thought it disappeared from a zoo or something."

The kangaroo's owner was visiting a friend and brought Buster along with him, placing him in fenced backyard, according to Gawker. Buster had no problems lifting the latch on the gate and finding a taste of freedom.

Osmani added that 18-month-old Buster stood only three feet tall and weighed 22 pounds, so he wasn't very intimidating ."It was running around like crazy and we didn't want it to get hit by a car," Osmani said.

Officers arrived within the hour to take Buster into custody without incident, said Det. Sophia Mason, and Buster has since been reunited with his owner.

It is illegal to keep a kangaroo or any marsupial in New York City's five boroughs, unless the animal is in a zoo, laboratory, circus or veterinary hospital, according to New York City law.

This isn't the first time an exotic animal has escaped from the same backyard either. In 2012, a pony named Casper and a zebra named Razzi escaped from the same fenced-in yard on Victory Boulevard and Travis Avenue, at the house registered to Giovanni Schirripa, according to The New York Times.

"He was jumping around, running around, very fast," Osmani said. "Enjoying the freedom."

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Kangaroo, Staten Island, New York City, New York