A WALLABY spotted running loose on a road in Co Down has been captured as a hunt got underway by a search and rescue charity.
Footage of the marsupial on the road between Lisburn and Ballynahinch was shared on social media last week after being filmed by a passing motorist.
The kangaroo-like animal, which is native to Australia, was seen crossing the road in the video taken by the stunned driver, who said he almost collided with it before capturing the footage.
Members of the Sky Watch NI charity, which uses drone technology to assist in hunting for missing people and to observe incidents including wildfires, joined in the search for the wallaby after the footage went viral.
On Sunday, the charity confirmed the animal had been located and is receiving care as the hunt begins for its owner.
Volunteers were travelling to the area where the wallaby had been filmed, when they learned it had already been detained.
Read more: Missing wallaby found after three days on run in Co Tyrone
A post detailing the capture was published on the Lost and Found Pets North Down Facebook page.
The post said inquiries had been made with petting farms and animal keepers in a bid to trace an owner, but no-one has yet claimed it.
Following consultations with a vet, the Sky Watch NI team set out on Sunday to try and find it, before volunteers learned the wallaby had been located and secured safely at a farm.
"If this wallaby has been kept in captivity he will have been starving and likely frightened," the post stated alongside a picture of the animal in its new secure pen.
"He is now safe and in experienced hands, where there are other wallabies for company and they are happy to let him stay if no owner comes forward."
Sharing the post on their charity Facebook page, alongside footage of the marsupial in a field before it was detained, a Sky Watch NI spokesperson added: "Happy to be of help."
Last August a wallaby named Winnie spent three days on the run after escaping from the Glenpark Estate near Omagh.
