A wallaby has been spotted on the loose in the UK.
Australian wallaby on the loose in the UK
The Australian marsupial, the smaller cousin of the native kangaroo, drove locals hopping mad after it was seen jumping around the village of Chopwell in North East England last week.
Cia Christie, 13, "couldn’t believe her eyes” when she came upon the wild wallaby outside her home on the way to school.
She said: “I couldn’t believe my eyes.
“It was 8.30am and I had to rub my eyes to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.
“I grabbed my phone and just started filming. It was hopping all over a grass verge outside the house. It was quite big and then it jumped off behind a fence.”
Anna Gibson, Cia’s mother, added: “We haven’t got a clue where it came from because there’s not any zoos or farm parks nearby so it could be someone’s pet which has got out.
“We got a message saying it was last seen in the woods. We haven’t seen it since but we hope it’s all right.”
The RSPCA were called out to capture the animal but so far the wallaby has eluded them.
Although a wallaby sighting in the UK is rare, in the small village of Chopwell it’s a lot more common than you might think.
The wallabies, who were imported to the UK over a century ago for zoos and private collections were previously spotted roaming around the streets in 2019 after one escaped from a nearby farm.