Talk:Phantom kangaroo

Ho-Ho-Kus NJ Kangaroo Sightings
I would like to add the details of the Phantom Kangaroo sightings in Ho-Ho-Kus NJ in the late 1970s or maybe 1980-81. If anyone can help me document these, please visit my talk page. I clipped articles about them when I was in high-school but no longer have the clippings. it was definitely Ho Ho Kus! Lisapollison 23:57, 10 May 2006 (UTC)


 * It’s True! I know for a fact that there was a kangaroo in Ho-Ho-Kus, because I saw it with my own two eyes! It was on Brookview Court. Ahm508 (talk) 17:41, 8 August 2023 (UTC)

Wallaby or Kangaroon
This article mentions a colony of Wallabies in Prussia before WWI but it changes from Wallaby to Kangaroo at the end of the paragraph. I'm not sure which one it is. 70.114.250.236
 * I have found several references to real and actual Wallabies being found injured in the UK in places where they simply shouldn't be. I believe that some Phantom kangaroo sightings might relate to this.  However, most of the Kangaroo sigjtings in the USA in the 1970s seem to be more phantom in nature and a product of mass hysteria.  As for the wallabies, which are smaller, I know people who keep one as a Pet in texas of all places.  Perhaps the practice of keeping wallabies as pets in other parts of the world may have resulted in wild bredding populations establishing themselves the same way that green parrots have become established in the wild in San francisco and Los Angeles.  The same old circus story is often told about the wild tribes of parrots. Lisapollison 00:29, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

Some other issues
I'm the one who posted the "expert" tag. Here are some important things missing from the article:
 * 1. The article needs to address some of the alternative explanations for the phenomenon. Many researchers don't buy the argument that the animals are all escapees from private collections; they believe something stranger is at work - teleportation, a undiscovered species, etc.  Of course, we shouldn't promote one viewpoint over another – personally, I think there's a pretty mundane explanation for all of this – but we should at least mention the more unusual theories and explain why they are popular in some circles.
 * 2. The article does not describe any of the famous sighting flaps over the years, such as the 1970s Chicago flap or the 1950s "Big Bunny" sightings in Minnesota.
 * 3. The article should mention some of the more recent reports, including one capture, ,.
 * 4. The article should explain the origins of the name "Phantom kangaroo." Zagalejo 22:28, 11 September 2006 (UTC)

Picture
A picture would verify the claim that there are pictures of these phantom kangaroos. Rintrah 08:50, 12 September 2006 (UTC)
 * In all the Kangaroo Flaps I've read about, the only photos are of tracks - not the actual creature the people sighted. I'm working on trying to gather some actual newspaper clippings on the flap in NJ in the late 70s.  Ho Ho Kus has had Kangeroo flaps several times.  most of the famous Kangaroo Flaps in the united states egan in the aerly seventies and ended by 1980.  Why is that I wonder?  Some weird mass hysteria aout gas rationing and runaway inflation? Lisapollison 19:06, 25 September 2006 (UTC)
 * Actually, there is a picture of a kangaroo that was hit by a car in Wisconsin. It's in one of my links above. Zagalejo 22:15, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

There is a picure of the 1978 Wosconsin kangaroo on page 201 of Unexplained by Jerome Clark. It looks like a real animal, whether it was taken where is was claimed though is another issue.

perfectblue 09:35, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

for future use - links to articles on kangaroo "flaps"
Please add links with the basic description when you come across them so that those of us working on this article can have the sources in one place. We can archive this section when the article is expanded. ThanksLisapollison 23:53, 25 September 2006 (UTC)


 * Remember when ... Kangaroos were spotted in Waukesha County
 * Gators, Lions and Phantom kangaroos
 * Wallabies on the loose in Suffolk
 * Kangroos living in abandoned Jungle Habitat NJ
 * Kangaroo painted green in 1909 and set loose to pose as Jersey Devil
 * Wild Wallaby Sightings on the rise UK - Reports of wallabies living wild in Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and surrounding areas
 * Derbyshire's Wallabies

Keep in mind that the circus explanation parallels a Warner Brothers cartoon where Sylvester meets up with a baby Kangaroo escaped from the circus who he mistakes for a Giant Mouse. Could Kangaroo flaps be the result of this cartoon seeping into legend status? Dunno. Lisapollison 18:58, 25 September 2006 (UTC)
 * Not for that cop who tried to handcuff one!Totnesmartin 20:35, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

In Sweden
I recall something about an escaped kangaroo in Sweden, but I haven't managed to find anything about it. // Liftarn

Related by cold weather: Every so often there are reports of kangaroos around the Montreal area, but I can only get ahold of secondhand reports of news clippings. Anyone else hear about these? Or am I speaking to a void? Thanks.74.58.3.218 (talk) —Preceding comment was added at 22:32, 29 April 2008 (UTC)

I'm an Australian who was in Sweden in 1997 and remember this being in the news then, with only my own seasonal references I think it may have been between July and September and in the Dalarna district. Eventually, in the media at least, they put it down to an escaped circus animal. This didn;t stop them from selling the "Kangaroos next 25km's" signs all over the district. (Natase (talk) 12:00, 16 April 2010 (UTC))

unconstructive edits
This article has lately been the subject of repeated unconstructive edits. Please don't add outragious descriptions to sightings unless you can back them up with a reliable source for such descriptions. If you don't know how to do that, list the edit you want to make and the URL of your source and I can put the citation in for you. Without a sources, fantastic and fanciful descriptions of sighted kangaroos cannot be distinguished from jokes or vandalism. ThanksLiPollis 16:36, 14 April 2007 (UTC)

There was a sighting in Palmyra Mo. http://www.connecttristates.com/news/story.aspx?id=740531#.UaQOZ7WG2i0 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.125.25.94 (talk) 02:03, 28 May 2013 (UTC)


 * I saw a kangaroo in a dream once, clear as day. Freaked me out, because it's normally a bear running that hardware store. I tried telling The Sun; apparently it wasn't scandalous enough. They probably kept it on file for a slow day, though, so keep your eyes peeled. InedibleHulk (talk) 09:11, 31 July 2014 (UTC)

New Zealand
I've moved the New Zealand section to here for discussion. It's uncited and possibly trivial, as there are few details (places, names etc) given.
 * In the early 1900's, a giant Kangaroo was reported in Fiordland, New Zealand, by two Australians.
 * New Zealand has no native marsupials (although, see Invasive species in New Zealand).
 * Because the creature hasn't been sighted again, it is likely it never existed..Totnesmartin (talk) 21:28, 29 November 2007 (UTC)

I added that. Its from NZ Mysteries by Robyn Gosset. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 121.73.78.45 (talk) 12:52, 15 December 2007 (UTC) Aha. Perhaps you could provide a page number, publisher and year of publication and I'll write it up a proper cite. When I can get online that is :( Totnesmartin (talk) 14:30, 20 December 2007 (UTC)
 * 6 species of wallaby including Parma and Tammar Wallabies are (were?) naturalised in New Zealand, and Brush-tailed Rock Wallaby on the Big Island of New Zealand. These presumably are as relevant to this article as feral wallabies in Derbyshire. Wallaby mentions a semi-wild population in Ireland as well. Lavateraguy (talk) 15:51, 30 July 2008 (UTC)

Popular Culture
This reminds me of the Sylvester cartoons with his son and the "Giant Mouse", which is really an escaped baby kangaroo. Is there a connection with this and the origin of the idea for these cartoons? If so, I think it should be mentioned.