Missing wallaby spotted after escaping from animal park
A wallaby which escaped from a wild animal park has been spotted by by staff roaming fields.
The three-year-old animal was seen on land off Bridgnorth Road near Sainsburys, in Wombourne, last night.
Wombourne and Kinver police officers had been conducting checks across the area since the sightings.
The animal went missing from Wild Zoological Park, in Bobbington, on Tuesday.
Zoo director, Zachary Hollinshead, said the wallaby, named Holly, escaped after being spooked by children.
He said: "We've got a walk through enclosure and there's a marked pathway and kids have gone off the pathway and chased the wallabies.
"They got spooked and bashed a hole in the fence.
"Luckily, only one got out.
"The keeper had put a stop to that.
"Usually, they are contained but the gate was open at the zoo.
"Holly got out the back gates because we had a bird show on, so the gate was open and it slipped out.
"It's like having a sheep out for a farmer, really.
"Wallabies are grass eating animals. A lot of estates in the UK get them to keep the grass down. Wallabies are more domestic and smaller in general."
He added: "There are various press reports of 'escaped beast' and 'kangaroo on the loose'. We'd just like to take a minute to clarify she's a small, friendly, grass-eating wallaby. Not a kangaroo and not a dangerous beast either.
"As we have explained previously, in some parts of the UK wallabies roam wild, country estates often keep them much like sheep and goats to keep the grass down.
"We are confident we can bring Holly home once we pinpoint her; in the meantime, we would appreciate if the only phone calls coming through to us are actual sightings."
Zoo keepers are working to capture the wallaby this lunchtime.
A spokesman for Staffordshire Police said: "We received a call from a member of the public claiming to have seen a wallaby or kangaroo on the Bridgnorth Road, Wombourne, at around 9.20pm last night.
"Unfortunately, if there is a kangaroo on the loose, it's got the jump on us!
"We've alerted local animal keepers in case there are any missing animals and will hop to it if we get any further reports."
