15 times wild animals ended up in places they shouldn't be
Talia Lakritz
![15 times wild animals ended up in places they shouldn't be](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fstaticbiassets.in%2Fthumb%2Fmsid-78899449%2Cwidth-700%2Cheight-525%2Cimgsize-291140%2F15-times-wild-animals-ended-up-in-places-they-shouldnapost-be.jpg&w=3840&q=75)
- Sometimes, animals end up in places they're not supposed to be.
- An alligator was spotted in Chicago's Humboldt Park Lagoon.
- A mountain lion once tried to enter a casino in Reno, Nevada.
- A kangaroo was seen hopping across a bridge in Grand Chute, Wisconsin.
An alligator was spotted cruising down Chicago's Humboldt Park Lagoon last year, but it wasn't the first time a wild animal turned up far away from its natural habitat.
Here are 15 times animals were found places where they didn't belong.
A possum broke into an Australian professor's office and looked very sorry about it.
![A possum broke into an Australian professor](https://staticbiassets.in/thumb/msid-78899599,width-700,height-525,imgsize-61558/a-possum-broke-into-an-australian-professoraposs-office-and-looked-very-sorry-about-it-.jpg)
In January 2020, Dr. Bree Blakeman thought someone had broken into her office at the Australian National University in Canberra when she first walked in, but it turned out her intruder was more scared than she was. An Australian bushtail possum had gotten into Blakeman's office through a ceiling tile and was hiding behind her computer monitor.
The possom eventually made its own way out after two days of living in her office.
A herd of cows escaped from a dairy farm in Victoria, Australia, and one of them ended up on a neighbor's trampoline.
![A herd of cows escaped from a dairy farm in Victoria, Australia, and one of them ended up on a neighbor](https://staticbiassets.in/thumb/msid-78899597,width-700,height-525,imgsize-136308/a-herd-of-cows-escaped-from-a-dairy-farm-in-victoria-australia-and-one-of-them-ended-up-on-a-neighboraposs-trampoline-.jpg)
Local dairy farmer Kay Laing said one of the escaped cows got stuck on the trampoline.
"I rang up the neighbor: 'Oh gee, sorry, David, there's a cow stuck on the tramp.' 'You're kidding me.' 'No, I'm not kidding you. It's really on the tramp,'" Laing told 3AW, a Melbourne radio station.
The owner then brought a tractor to retrieve the runaway cow.
A Kansas family found a 6-foot boa constrictor inside their living room couch.
![A Kansas family found a 6-foot boa constrictor inside their living room couch.](https://staticbiassets.in/thumb/msid-78899593,width-700,height-525,imgsize-488168/a-kansas-family-found-a-6-foot-boa-constrictor-inside-their-living-room-couch-.jpg)
A family in Rose Hill, Kansas, found 6-foot-long boa constrictor slithering inside their living room couch in January 2020. The Rose Hill Police Department called Butler County Fire District #3 for backup.
Deputy fire chief Melvin Linot and firefighter Brandon Kolter arrived on the scene, safely removed the boa constrictor, and posted a photo to their Facebook page. The snake then swiftly captured the hearts of Facebook users, several of whom offered to adopt the lost creature.
An alligator was spotted in Chicago's Humboldt Park Lagoon and was later apprehended.
![An alligator was spotted in Chicago](https://staticbiassets.in/thumb/msid-78899586,width-700,height-525,imgsize-39661/an-alligator-was-spotted-in-chicagoaposs-humboldt-park-lagoon-and-was-later-apprehended-.jpg)
An alligator estimated to be four or five feet long was spotted in Humboldt Park Lagoon in 2019, according to the Chicago Tribune. Animal control set out traps to capture the alligator. A local volunteer known as "Alligator Bob," who has helped officials catch wayward animals before, also searched for it among lily pads in his canoe.
A resident of Humbolt Park told the Tribune that people often dump animals that they no longer want to take care of into the lagoon, so it's possible that the alligator was illegally owned by someone who released it there.
The alligator, dubbed "Chance the Snapper," was eventually apprehended.
Little blue penguins kept returning to a sushi shop in Wellington, New Zealand.
![Little blue penguins kept returning to a sushi shop in Wellington, New Zealand.](https://staticbiassets.in/thumb/msid-78899585,width-700,height-525,imgsize-534851/little-blue-penguins-kept-returning-to-a-sushi-shop-in-wellington-new-zealand-.jpg)
RNZ News reported in July 2019 that little blue penguins repeatedly wandered into Sushi Bi, a sushi shop near Wellington railway station in New Zealand, last summer. They had apparently found a favorite spot by the warmth of the kitchen's grill.
Jack Mace, operations manager at the Department of Conservation, told RNZ that the penguins were likely scouting out places to lay eggs.
An alligator climbed up to the second floor of an apartment complex in Naples, Florida.
![An alligator climbed up to the second floor of an apartment complex in Naples, Florida.](https://staticbiassets.in/thumb/msid-78899584,width-700,height-525,imgsize-364229/an-alligator-climbed-up-to-the-second-floor-of-an-apartment-complex-in-naples-florida-.jpg)
While alligators are native to Florida, they're not native to apartment buildings. A 5-foot-long alligator made its way up to the second floor of an apartment complex in Naples, the Miami Herald reported in July 2019. It likely came from the lake behind the building.
Professional alligator trapper Ray Simonsen nabbed the rogue animal and told the Herald that it would find a new home on a farm.
A polar bear ended up lost in the suburbs of Siberia, Russia, over 300 miles from home.
![A polar bear ended up lost in the suburbs of Siberia, Russia, over 300 miles from home.](https://staticbiassets.in/thumb/msid-78899581,width-700,height-525,imgsize-49096/a-polar-bear-ended-up-lost-in-the-suburbs-of-siberia-russia-over-300-miles-from-home-.jpg)
CNN reported that a polar bear wandered into the Siberian suburb of Norilsk in June 2019, around 310 miles away from the coast where the species normally lives.
How did it end up there? One possibility is that polar bears have to travel farther to find food due to melting ice caused by climate change.
A mountain lion was seen roaming in Des Moines, Iowa.
![A mountain lion was seen roaming in Des Moines, Iowa.](https://staticbiassets.in/thumb/msid-78899578,width-700,height-525,imgsize-94640/a-mountain-lion-was-seen-roaming-in-des-moines-iowa-.jpg)
A mountain lion was seen roaming near downtown Des Moines, Iowa, last year, according to AP News. It's not the first mountain lion spotted there, either — police shot a mountain lion in northern Des Moines in 2012.
A kangaroo reportedly hopped across a bridge in Grand Chute, Wisconsin.
![A kangaroo reportedly hopped across a bridge in Grand Chute, Wisconsin.](https://staticbiassets.in/thumb/msid-78899574,width-700,height-525,imgsize-146387/a-kangaroo-reportedly-hopped-across-a-bridge-in-grand-chute-wisconsin-.jpg)
In June 2019, police in Grand Chute, Wisconsin, responded to a caller who said there was a kangaroo hopping across a bridge on Interstate 41. Officers said they were "unable to locate any marsupials," according to the Appleton Post-Crescent.
Another earlier kangaroo sighting didn't end well. In November 2018, a kangaroo was hit and killed by a car in Waukechon, Wisconsin, after it jumped over its owner's fence.
A mountain lion tried to enter a casino in Reno, Nevada.
![A mountain lion tried to enter a casino in Reno, Nevada.](https://staticbiassets.in/thumb/msid-78899572,width-700,height-525,imgsize-62621/a-mountain-lion-tried-to-enter-a-casino-in-reno-nevada-.jpg)
When a 75-pound-lion tried to enter Harrah's Hotel Casino's revolving door in Reno, Nevada, in 2012, police closed down the surrounding streets until it was tranquilized and apprehended, KOLO 8 News reported.
A black bear was removed from a tree along the New Jersey Turnpike.
![A black bear was removed from a tree along the New Jersey Turnpike.](https://staticbiassets.in/thumb/msid-78899553,width-700,height-525,imgsize-804883/a-black-bear-was-removed-from-a-tree-along-the-new-jersey-turnpike-.jpg)
NJ.com reported that when a black bear climbed a tree along the New Jersey Turnpike in 2011, it had to be removed by firefighters and wildlife officials because it began to draw a crowd in a high-traffic area. The nearly 300-pound bear took two hours to extricate from the tree and was released into the Assunpink Wildlife Management Area.
An elephant was found wandering in Westtown, New York, about 70 miles from New York City.
![An elephant was found wandering in Westtown, New York, about 70 miles from New York City.](https://staticbiassets.in/thumb/msid-78899534,width-700,height-525,imgsize-454734/an-elephant-was-found-wandering-in-westtown-new-york-about-70-miles-from-new-york-city-.jpg)
New York state troopers found an elephant walking around Westtown, New York, a town about 70 miles away from New York City, in November 2018. Fox News reported that the animal had escaped from a wildlife sanctuary and was returned by the state troopers.
After eluding wildlife officials for three years, a monkey was finally caught in St. Petersburg, Florida.
![After eluding wildlife officials for three years, a monkey was finally caught in St. Petersburg, Florida.](https://staticbiassets.in/thumb/msid-78899523,width-700,height-525,imgsize-104974/after-eluding-wildlife-officials-for-three-years-a-monkey-was-finally-caught-in-st-petersburg-florida-.jpg)
A rhesus macaque monkey managed to elude Florida authorities for three years before it was finally caught in St. Petersburg in 2012. Wildlife trapper Vernon Yates told CBS News that it was "one of the most intelligent monkeys that I think I have ever seen."
A flamingo that escaped a Wichita, Kansas, zoo was spotted eight years later living in the Gulf of Mexico 670 miles away.
![A flamingo that escaped a Wichita, Kansas, zoo was spotted eight years later living in the Gulf of Mexico 670 miles away.](https://staticbiassets.in/thumb/msid-78899520,width-700,height-525,imgsize-303407/a-flamingo-that-escaped-a-wichita-kansas-zoo-was-spotted-eight-years-later-living-in-the-gulf-of-mexico-670-miles-away-.jpg)
The Chicago Tribune reported that eight years after an African flamingo escaped a zoo in Wichita, Kansas, it was seen 670 miles away in the Gulf of Mexico. It had also found a companion.
The flamingo was still wearing a leg band from the Wichita zoo, but the zoo's bird curator told the Tribune that he's happy that the bird is thriving in the wild and has no intention of returning it to captivity.
Rusty the red panda escaped from the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington, DC.
![Rusty the red panda escaped from the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington, DC.](https://staticbiassets.in/thumb/msid-78899515,width-700,height-525,imgsize-213655/rusty-the-red-panda-escaped-from-the-smithsonian-national-zoo-in-washington-dc-.jpg)
Rusty the red panda had only been in the Smithsonian National Zoo for a few weeks when he went missing in 2013, according to The Washington Post. He was found later that afternoon in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of Washington, DC, when someone spotted him and tweeted a photo.
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