Skippy the kangaroo died Monday, just a few hours after spending the weekend hopping around Fountaintown, Ind.

ADVERTISEMENT

The 6-foot-tall marsupial escaped from owner Sue Schutt's Shelby County farm Friday and was eventually spotted standing in the middle of a highway early Monday, WISH-TV in Indianapolis reported. While other officers blocked traffic from passing through, Hancock County Animal Control Officer Roger McKinney used a tranquilizer gun to bring Skippy down with a dosage recommended by a veterinarian, the TV station said.

"They told us a dosage that should be safe, but with any animal you sedate there's a chance of the animal not surviving," McKinney said. "It was pretty much a last resort and that's what it boiled down to."

Stress may have contributed to the animal's death, he said.