‘I know God was watching over him’: Owner of escaped kangaroo

TAMPA - A kangaroo was back home with its owner in Temple Terrace on Friday, a day after it escaped and made its way to a condominium complex down the road.

Aerial helicopter video from the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office shows deputies trying to corral the kangaroo in the pool area of Stone Creek Point Condominiums in Tampa early Thursday morning.

"I heard yelling outside. Walk out the door, see police lights...and in the lights, I see the silhouette of a kangaroo, and I think, 'there's no way I saw that,'" said Nicci Wolski, who recorded video of the kangaroo and shared it with FOX 13. "It's just hopping all over and he chilled behind our building for a while."

After capturing the animal, deputies returned it to its owner, Dunia Ramirez, who lives about a mile down the road.

READ: 'There's a kangaroo in my apartment': Kangaroo runs rampant in Tampa before deputies' capture

Ramirez cares for two kangaroos, Jack and Hopper. She told FOX 13 her house is being renovated, and she believes a worker left open a gate, allowing Hopper to escape.

"I'm glad that he decided to go that way because I live next to a busy avenue and I know God was watching over him," said Ramirez, adding she views her kangaroos as family. "I know exactly what they love. So they have everything that they could possibly imagine in here."

This is the first time Hopper has escaped, according to Ramirez.

"They're both very chill, very relaxed, and I think they absolutely love [to be] each other's companion," she said, adding she hopes her kangaroos' newfound notoriety will allow her to eventually invite in the community to meet her kangaroos. "I don't want them just for me. I want everybody to know how beautiful these creatures are."

Ramirez said she received veterinary training in Cuba and has rescued common pets, farm animals and exotic wildlife over the years. She said she's permitted by the state to own the two kangaroos.