Kangaroo Injures 80-year-old Man at Ohio Farm
A man was injured on Tuesday morning by a kangaroo at an exotic-animal farm in Marion County.
The Marion County sheriff's office received a 911 call from Nola Kokas at 10:50 a.m. saying her father-in-law had been hurt by a kangaroo. Maj. Jeff Cline of the sheriff's office said the injury happened at Kokas Exotics, an animal farm on Prospect-Upper Sandusky Road in the village of Green Camp. That's in the southwestern part of the county.
Cline said an ambulance was sent to the farm and the 80-year-old man was transported to a Columbus hospital. Beyond that, Cline said, it is not a law-enforcement issue or a criminal matter, so the sheriff's office is not involved.
Kokas told the 911 dispatcher that the man had been injured all over: "I don't know how to explain it, but it's bad," she said.
The man wasn't identified in the 911 call, and the sheriff's office did not have his name. Public records show that John Kokas, 80, lives on property on Prospect-Upper Sandusky Road.
Kokas Exotics advertises on the Internet that it sells baby kangaroos. A website also shows that the farm sells baby skunks and baby groundhogs and has been in search of arctic fox.
It was not immediately clear who owns and operates Kokas, and no one from the family could be reached for comment.
The state has oversight for issuing health certificates to exotic-animal farms only when the animals are sold across state lines, said Andy Ware, spokesman for the Ohio Department of Agriculture. He said the department has no paperwork for Kokas Exotics, and it would be governed only by local laws, if any exist.
The farm is in Green Camp Township, one of two Marion County townships that have no zoning regulations.
Township Trustee Robert Clunk said the exotic-animal farm has never been a problem for the township.
