A stun gun had to be used to catch the kangaroo

But Austrian police training does not cover kangaroo catching, and the animal spent some time exploring the snowy countryside before being apprehended.

Local police officer Joerg Fortin said the wayward marsupial just kept hopping away when they tried get hold of it.

In the end a local vet was called in to help catch it using a stun gun.

The one-year-old kangaroo, which belongs to a breeder in Tirol, was finally nabbed in a country road about five kilometres (three miles) from St Veit, in the province of Carinthia.

It is now being treated for minor injuries by veterinary surgeon Georg Rainer, who said he was going to care for the animal for two to three weeks.