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The marsupial that has been on the loose on Montreal’s South Shore has been caught by Quebec’s Environment Ministry teams Tuesday afternoon. <\/p>\n
He was sedated and placed in a Granby Zoo ambulance from the Granby Zoo \u2014 his new home.<\/p>\n
“We wish him a peaceful future in a sanctuary, surrounded by other animals like him and receiving the care he needs,” wrote the animal protection agency Galahad SPCA. <\/p>\n
“Safe travels, little Joey. Thank you for raising awareness among so many people about the reality of exotic animals.” <\/p>\n
Earlier today, the ministry said the animal did not pose a “significant danger to the public” while it was in the wild.<\/p>\n
It also maintained that the survival of the kangaroo \u2014 which likely escaped from illegal captivity \u2014 in the wild is not at risk during the summer months. <\/p>\n
But Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric B\u00e9rard, a lawyer representing Galahad SPCA, argued the animal did not have much time to survive when he was on the loose.<\/p>\n
“He can easily get hit by a car, that’s for sure. Maybe he can get eaten by a coyote,” B\u00e9rard said on CBC’s Daybreak radio show Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n
He also criticized Quebec’s Environment Ministry for what he considered a slow response.<\/p>\n
“It’s very upsetting,” he said. <\/p>\n
“[If you spot the animal,] I would say, ‘Just call the ministry.’ But to do what? They don’t do nothing.”<\/p>\n
The marsupial, nicknamed Joey \u2014 infant marsupials are also known as ‘joeys’ \u2014, was spotted hopping through a field in Boucherville, Que., in videos posted online Friday. <\/p>\n
The Environment Ministry confirmed on Tuesday afternoon to Radio-Canada that it is indeed a kangaroo and not a wallaby, as some had initially assumed.<\/p>\n
He escaped from a stable in the city, according to Radio-Canada.<\/p>\n
LISTEN | Lawyer slams Quebec for doing ‘nothing’:<\/p>\n
Daybreak Montreal6:41Wallaby or Kangaroo on the loose in Montreal<\/p>\n
A small marsupial \u2014\u00a0it’s still unclear whether it’s a small kangaroo or wallaby \u2014 has been on the loose on Montreal\u2019s South Shore, after it likely escaped from illegal captivity. Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric B\u00e9rard, a lawyer representing the animal protection agency Galahad SPCA, explains how this raises concerns about illegal animal trafficking.Quebec says public should keep distance<\/p>\n
Before its capture, in a statement to Radio-Canada, the Environment Ministry said it was assessing the situation to determine “the safest way to recover the animal” while minimizing risks to both the animal and the public, particularly vehicles.<\/p>\n
“Acting quickly does not mean acting effectively,” wrote the Ministry. “A hasty intervention can jeopardize the capture … It can endanger the animal’s life.”<\/p>\n
The government said it was important for people to avoid approaching the animal so that it remains in the area where it is currently located.<\/p>\n
The Ministry added that though the investigation is ongoing, based on the information available so far, it appears that the animal was being kept illegally in facilities that “do not comply with Quebec regulations.”<\/p>\n
The case highlights the issue of illegal trafficking of what is referred to as exotic animals in Canada, according to\u00a0Chamie Angie Cadorette who works for Galahad SPCA. <\/p>\n
In an interview with The Canadian Press on Monday, she said a quick online search shows dozens of listings for ‘exotic’ animals for sale in Quebec.<\/p>\n
The province requires special permits to keep wild animals in captivity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 3 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":741493,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[49,48,66,323],"class_list":["post-741492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/741492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=741492"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/741492\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/741493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=741492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=741492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=741492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}