Kangaroo filmed hopping down Detroit street on leash

The mystery of a viral video showing a kangaroo hopping down a Detroit street on a leash appears to have been solved.

The owner of the roo, who is seen running alongside the red kangaroo, is Javon Stacks who says he owns a travelling exotic zoo, Detroit News reports.

The Snapchat video of the 1.2m roo charging down the street as bewildered bystanders looked on went wild on Twitter yesterday, drawing nearly 10,000 retweets.

Mr Stacks said he had taken the roo to a children’s birthday party and was giving it some space when the video was filmed by someone driving by.

“The kangaroo is too big to be in the house,” Mr Stacks said.

“The birthday kid and all their friends wanted to see him hop around."

Mr Stacks, who is based in Michigan, said he often visited schools, libraries and parties with exotic birds, reptiles and mammals.

“We educate people,” he said. “When people don’t know, people tend to judge things.”

Detroit Animal Control told Detroit News it was illegal to own a kangaroo in the city and they were investigating the mammal’s appearance.