When the police got a call in the suburbs of Cologne about a kangaroo roaming freely through the Rhineland, they were sure it was an April Fool's prank, they told the media on Thursday.

It was only after "detailed questioning" and receiving "very believable" answers that police in the Rhein-Erft district realized that the caller was indeed telling them the truth.

The police were surprised to find a white kangaroo "really happily" hopping through a field in the town of Brühl. Despite an attempted rescue operation involving the local firemen, the police were unable to capture the animal and were left wondering how an Australian marsupial came to be wandering the German countryside.

They called a traveling circus passing through the area, but the circus management said they had no missing kangaroos.

The owners, who remained unnamed by police, later contacted the authorities and confirmed that the kangaroo had returned to its paddock on its own.

The police suspect that fencing surrounding the animal's enclosure was likely knocked down when super storm "Niklas" hit the region this week.

es/sms (AFP, dpa)