Sheila the runaway kangaroo causes car crash, shuts down Alabama highway

April 30, 2025

(MACON COUNTY, AL) -- A runaway kangaroo caused a car crash that ended up shutting down an Alabama highway, police said.

The incident took place on Tuesday when the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency responded to a two-vehicle crash in the southbound lane of Interstate 85 near the 46 mile marker in Macon County, Alabama, when a kangaroo interrupted traffic, according to a statement from the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.

Authorities ended up shutting down both the north and southbound lanes of Interstate 85 in an attempt to recover the runaway kangaroo, which may have caused the two-vehicle accident but was uninjured in the collision, officials said.

“Troopers with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency’s (ALEA) Highway Patrol Division along with the animal’s owner conducted a recovery of the kangaroo,” police said.

The kangaroo was eventually recovered, and the roadway was opened back up but police did not say how it managed to escape from the owner or how the marsupial ended up running away onto a busy highway.

According to the Associated Press, the kangaroo’s owner, Patrick Starr, said that the animal's name is Sheila and that she escaped from her enclosure near to where his family runs a pumpkin patch and petting zoo, though Sheila, Starr said, is a personal pet.

The kangaroo was treated by the Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine, according to the Associated Press.

“She’s back home safe. She’s up. She’s not sedated anymore. She’s eating. She’s drinking. She’s not injured,” Starr said. “She’s a sweet pet. I’m glad she’s back home, and I’m glad everybody slowed down a little bit,” he said.