As frequent readers of Cryptomundo know, we track reports of weird animal news, including animal attacks, that might have some impact on cryptid coverage, misidentifications, and media attention. This appears to be a good open-mindedly skeptical or skeptically open-minded activity to pursue.
On Tuesday, September 20, 2011, one of those random incidents occurred in Ohio.
An 80-year-old owner of an animal farm remains in fair condition in a Columbus hospital, after a kangaroo attacked him for 15 minutes at his exotic-animal collection in central Ohio. The Columbus Dispatch reported that the Marion County sheriff’s office received a 911 call on September 20, 2011, from a woman saying her father-in-law was hurt. Major Jeff Cline says the injury happened at Kokas Exotics in Green Camp, Marion County, Ohio. The victim was identified as John Kokas, who was repeatedly punched in the face and upper body.
Kokas Exotics Animals Farm was set up in 1978 and breeds animals for San Diego Zoo. The photo above is from their Facebook site.
The farm owner’s son told WCMH-TV the man was attacked by a 6-foot-tall, 200-pound male red kangaroo for about 15 minutes. The station reports the attack came at breeding time when males can be aggressive, and in this case, the male appears to have been protecting a female in heat. The kangaroo will be euthanized, according to the farm’s owner’s son.
According to the Kokas Exotics Facebook page, the company sells baby skunks, groundhogs and foxes, along with other animals – as well as, formerly, at least one kangaroo.
From the video of Kokas (here) in his hospital bed, it appears he and his son have Australian accents.
Ohio’s lax pet laws came under scrutiny last year when a bear killed its caretaker near Cleveland, Ohio.
Mystery Kangaroos have been sighted in Ohio for decades. We will have to be aware of any new reports of random Phantom Kangaroo or Devil Monkeys that issue forth from Ohio this fall. I have written about both, of course, in my book Mysterious America, for those who wish to refer to this history. I know it may come as a surprise to some, but I recommend referring to my historical gathering of material found in my books often so I will not have to repeat myself to those who are familiar with these cases and my and other folks’ investigations of these reports. Also, that generally keeps the flow of the blog postings current, but within context, to reflect the recent events with source linkages.
Thanks for the newstip from Chris.
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