Video shows kangaroo hopping around Tampa apartment complex before being captured

It didn’t take long for the law to catch up with Hopper, a 7-year-old kangaroo that escaped from its Tampa home early Thursday morning. 

The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office responded to a pretty unusual call, one from a neighboring police station asking for their “expertise” on a kangaroo related situation. 

Officers had received a report about a runaway kangaroo, later identified as Hopper, roaming around an apartment complex in Arbor Point Circle, a residential neighborhood in Tampa. 

He was only about a mile away from home. 

Watch: Hopper's first encounter with law enforcement

The Sheriff’s Office decided to take on the task of locating Hopper, since he was spotted in their jurisdiction, public information officer Phil Martello shared with USA TODAY. 

A team of deputies, including a K-9 dog and aviation unit, were able to track Hopper down at 5:00 a.m., about 30 minutes after the initial call came in.

Deputies were able to lure Hopper into the pool area, keeping him there until deputies were able to safely transport and inspect him. He was fed and cared for by deputies into the night. 

Hopper’s owners picked him up later that night. 

“The owners of the kangaroos (yes, they have another one) have the proper paperwork to own them,” Martello said. 

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, who is investigating the incident, is trying to “determine the structural changes that may need to be made at the property where this occurred.”  

USA TODAY has reached out to the FWC for comment.