By Mail Foreign Service
Trapped: The young kangaroo was found with its leg trapped in a hubcap at an Australian ce
A young kangaroo has been rescued by wildlife officers after its leg was trapped in a discarded hubcap at an Australian cemetery.
The injured male marsupial was found lying on the ground at the Pinnaroo Valley Memorial Park, north of Perth, Western Australia, by families paying their respects.
The unlucky animal appeared to have jumped on to the hubcap, which then broke and became stuck on its left leg.
Lucky escape: The animal was able to hop away after wildlife officers removed the plastic hubcap
Wildlife officer Matthew Swan said the kangaroo was so badly injured he initially thought it would have to be put down.
'He was just lying on the cemetery floor and couldn't move. The hubcap looked like an old-fashioned bear trap,' he said.
'It looked very serious.'
Mr Swan calmed the 1.6m adolescent kangaroo with a tranquiliser dart and carefully removed the plastic hubcap.
'Luckily he wasn't seriously injured.'
'I waited for him to wake up so I could see him hopping about to make sure it was okay,' Mr Swan said.
The officers returned to the cemetery the following day to make sure the animal was alright, but he was nowhere to be seen.
'We’re confident that it was able to move on to a new location. It was a successful rescue and a great result,' Mr Swan said.
'He would certainly have died there
source: dailymail
Trapped: The young kangaroo was found with its leg trapped in a hubcap at an Australian ce
Lucky escape: The animal was able to hop away after wildlife officers removed the plastic hubcap
