A Belgian wallaby has been captured in France after escaping from its home in Mouscron, Wallonia.
The wallaby had spent several days roaming around the Franco-Belgian border after escaping with another wallaby.
The animals were reported missing on the morning of Sunday, 20 July, according to French broadcaster France 3. Their owners were identified by police, but were said to be out of the country.
Photos of the fugitive marsupials soon began circulating on social media. On Monday, they were spotted on the French side of the border. A widely-shared video showed a wallaby running through the streets of Wattrelos in the middle of the night.
Residents of Mouscron and the surrounding area organised search parties to track them down, but until yesterday, the wallabies eluded them.
French firefighters announced this morning that a wallaby had been caught in Wattrelos yesterday and returned home to Belgium.
In a statement on Facebook the firefighters said: "To capture the wallaby safely, painlessly and securely, the technicians used a net to prevent escape, then seized the marsupial by the tail so as not to injure it, a technique that is totally painless for the animal, avoiding blows with the tail, scratches with the paws or, potentially, the risk of defensive bites."
‘The greatest difficulty in the world catching them’
Wallabies are native to Australia and members of the kangaroo family. They are known to be shy and solitary creatures and tend to avoid contact with humans, making them difficult to capture once they have escaped.
Magali Delannoy, police commissioner and director of operations in Mouscron, told France 3 earlier this week that police have had "the greatest difficulty in the world in catching them".
Unlike in France, wallabies are legal to keep as pets in Belgium, as long as certain conditions are met.
This isn’t the first case of wallabies sparking a police search in Belgium. In 2022, two pet wallabies escaped from their home in Kortenberg, Flanders and were later taken in by taken in by Animal Rescue Services.
