No sign of kangaroo missing from private Marana zoo since storm; capybara found

A capybara that had gone missing after Friday’s fierce monsoon storms has been found and is in good condition, but there’s still no sign of a missing kangaroo, say the owners of Marana’s Ghost Ranch Exotics petting zoo.

There was also a sighting of one of two missing African crested porcupines in an area nearby, said co-owner Geordi Davisson.

“We know the general area that they were headed towards, which happens to be a good area that’s got lots of water and munchy things. So we ... have a crew that will be out here very shortly, and they’re going to go look for them,” Davisson said Monday afternoon.

The petting zoo’s sole kangaroo remains missing.

“No sighting of the kangaroo. No updates on him, unfortunately,” Davisson said Monday afternoon.

On Sunday, Davisson seemed confident the missing animals were likely in the nearby area.

“We can’t imagine they’ve gone too far, but in this heat, they’re hunkered down in shady spots, looking for water and hiding from the sun,” he told the Star then. “It’s hard to look for animals that are the color of the desert.”

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The owners ask that anyone who comes upon one of the missing animals call animal control and contact Ghost Ranch Exotics at 520-276-4469.

While most of the zoo’s animals were found on the property after the storm, some enclosures were damaged, leading to temporary wanderings of other animals that have since been found, including the Patagonian mara and various bird species.

The storm killed a few of the smaller birds at the facility, the owners said.

Currently, most of the animals remain onsite behind improvised temporary fencing and under shade, according to Davisson, with some of the birds being housed in the facility’s office and others at Davisson’s house.

Davisson and fellow co-owner Kenneth MacNeil reported significant damage to the facility, at 9027 Ghost Ranch Trail, resulting in extensive losses to animal enclosures, aviaries and other structures.

The strong winds ripped apart animal houses and damaged nearly every fence and shade awning on the property.

“My 5,000-pound aviary took flight and ended up spread across four acres. It damaged all of our fences, animal shade awnings, and destroyed half of our animal houses. It was a bad storm,” Davisson said, estimating the damages to be around $50,000. “Everything is brand new. We just built it ourselves, and now it’s all destroyed.”