FLEETWOOD, Pa.-
Where’s the wallaby? That’s what officials at the Berks County Humane Society are wondering after residents began seeing a foreign creature hopping around town.
Wallabies, which look very similar to kangaroos, are native to Australia and Papua New Guinea. It’s unclear how one ended up about 50 miles northwest of Philadelphia.
The animal might have been bought on the Internet as a pet, said humane society officer Dylan Heckart.
The agency received its first report of a wallaby sighting on Monday from a man who had seen the animal in his backyard over the weekend, Heckart said.
Humane society officials have since laid traps baited with food in areas where the creature has been seen, said Heckart.
Members of the public are being advised to keep their distance if they spot the animal.
“They’re violent when confined or restrained,” Heckart said Tuesday, noting wallabies’ powerful kicking legs. “They can definitely injure a human being badly.”
The Lehigh Valley Zoo, about 20 miles away in Schnecksville, said it was not missing a wallaby.
