It was a game of hop pursuit.
Comical video shows an escape artist kangaroo giving Texas cops the run-around — before it was eventually captured.
The marsupial named Bingus somehow managed to break out of the Waco Wildlife Center Monday morning, with cops springing into action, video released by the Waco Police Department shows.
Texas cops opted for The Sugarhill Gang’s track “Rapper’s Delight” as background music and the clip started with one man, armed with a net, hopelessly failing to capture the animal.
The marsupial still managed to avoid capture even when it was chased by two officers.
Eventually, the officers prevailed and Bingus was caught in what police proclaimed was a “roo-tine” mission.
One officer and the man, who had now abandoned his net, were seen dragging the animal by its tail, seemingly preventing it from bolting off again.
“We’re happy to report this escape artist has returned safe and sound,” relieved cops said.
Fans saw the funny side — with one comparing the way the animal was captured to a mom and her child in a Walmart supermarket.
“They are dragging it like an exhausted Mom taking a screaming toddler out of Walmart,” one viewer wrote.
Others compared it to a stubborn young child demanding candy at the store.
“The way he is dragging him by his tail like a doggone preschooler that didn’t want to leave the store until you bought that candy at checkout,” another viewer said.
Some viewers criticized Waco cops for being heavy-handed, dragging the animal by its tail.
Remarkably, Monday’s episode wasn’t the first time a kangaroo had broken out of the wildlife center.
Two managed to break out on Sept. 2 last year before being captured and Waco cops boasted how they got a “jump on the situation,” KCEN reported.
The pair of kangaroos broke out after an employee accidentally left “multiple gates” open, according to the outlet.
And in May 2024, a pet kangaroo was spotted in the small Texan town of Lufkin — located about 120 miles northeast of Houston.
Texas is one of 13 states where citizens can keep kangaroos as exotic pets.