It’s difficult to say why exactly everyone loves escaped animal stories. It’s probably for the same reason we like The Shawshank Redemption: to witness the emotional arc of a wrongfully imprisoned convict break free and cause all kinds of trouble and chaos to those that once watched over it. (Apologies to all well-meaning zookeepers out there, by the way.)

Although it’ll take a lot to beat the two massive, social media-savvy capybaras that eloped together into the wilds of Toronto back in 2016, the latest addition to this series of tales – a “rogue” kangaroo over in South Carolina – is certainly worthy of inclusion to this tremendously silly tapestry.

As reported by the Associated Press, this mischievous marsupial was spotted along Highway 28 in the American state last Thursday. Recognizing that kangaroos are not exactly ubiquitous in the Land of the Free, reports came flooding into the local sheriff’s office, who promptly arrested it.

The report notes that, apart from ultimately being ensnared by its owner, “details about the kangaroo’s Thursday morning exploits and capture were not released.” We've reached out to the kangaroo for comment, but have yet to receive a reply.

As such, we are going to have to simply assume that the escape and capture were incredibly dramatic, involving helicopter search parties, an epic, prolonged staredown between escapee and the authorities, and a final takedown, where someone said something to the kangaroo like “you’re out of bounds” as they cuffed him or her.

It’s not clear how it escaped either, although some suspect it found a weak point in its enclosure or the gate was simply left open. No one has suggested anything more complicated than that yet, and it doesn’t appear that a zany heist was underway either, sadly.

The best part of this particular story, though, is that this is the second time the kangaroo has escaped in three days. Either it’s a spectacular escape artist or the enclosure it’s kept in is pretty shoddy. It’s worth noting that it’s not being kept in a zoo either, but a group of “properly licensed” unidentified owners are keeping it.

So there you go – you can get a license to keep at least one kangaroo in South Carolina. Every day’s a school day, right?

Disappointingly, at present, no social media accounts claiming to be by the kangaroo itself have appeared. Fingers crossed we get some online, revolutionary sass by a Twitter-able ‘roo in the near future.