Mystery as wallaby is seen hopping around Cornish town months after shock appearance on industrial estate

A wallaby has been spotted hopping around the Cornwall countryside – months after it appeared on a nearby industrial estate.Residents in the ancient market town of Liskeard reported seeing the marsupial – native to Australia – jumping along a busy road.Scott Weller, owner of Original Cornish Pastries, said he noticed what he first thought was a dog while driving to work.Mr Weller said there were several cars behind him and he decided to follow the animal after worrying it could be hit.He said: 'But then I realised it was hopping and that it was a wallaby on the loose.'The business leader recalled pulling up beside the wallaby before saying to it: 'Hello, you're not from around here, are you?'The marsupial then disappeared down a side road towards the local Co-op.'It was a bit sad that he was out there on his own, as there can't have been much for it to eat because of the heatwave we've been having,' Mr Weller said. Residents in the ancient market town of Liskeard reported seeing the marsupial - native to Australia - jumping along roads and in a secondary school playing field. The animal is pictured here Scott Weller, owner of Original Cornish Pastries, said he noticed what he first thought was a dog while driving to work Mr Weller said there were several cars behind him and, worried the animal could be hit, he decided to follow it 'I just thought, "Poor thing, he's lost."'Mr Weller reported the sighting to police via 101 - though the call handler initially had trouble comprehending what he was saying.'I told her, "There's a wallaby hopping up the street," and she replied, "The Australian animal, like a small kangaroo? Right, OK"', he said. The wallaby has reportedly been sighted elsewhere in Liskeard.A member of staff at the leisure centre is said to have spotted it at the weekend in the secondary school playing fields.Devon and Cornwall Police said the animal had disappeared by the time officers arrived.A spokesman added: 'We were called to a report of a wallaby seen on Dean Street, Liskeard, shortly before 6am, August 24. Officers carried out an area search but did not locate the animal.'The incident comes just months after residents in Cornwall reported a 'strange' encounter with the animal – as it was spotted wandering around an industrial estate. The wallaby was seen hopping around an industrial estate in Cornwall months earlier The bizarre sighting left residents baffled after a local zoo confirmed 'all our wallabies accounted for' The bizarre sighting left locals baffled after a local zoo confirmed 'all our wallabies are accounted for,' leaving the mystery surrounding who owned it or where it came from unsolved.Neil Hardyman was on his way to work at a business park in Liskeard, off the A390, at 6am last Wednesday when he spotted the wallaby looking lost and conspicuously out of place.He filmed the unusual encounter and his friend Darren Marlow shared it in a local Facebook group.Mr Hardyman said: 'I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it.'And a wallaby was previously captured on camera appearing unfazed as it made its way down the A39, near Newquay at around 10.30pm on August 22 2024.Henry Hallam, 23, from Truro, managed to capture footage of the animal on his phone. At the time he said it 'stopped to give us a stare' before moving on its way.Henry said: 'We were driving along in Fraddon, and all of a sudden were slowing up as this kangaroo was hopping along.'He paused in front of the car lights before resuming his journey down the road.'The kangaroo was acting much as though there was nothing amiss, and he was meant to be there.'He stopped to give us a stare and then continued on his way. How strange.'Sadly the marsupial that Mr Hallam had spotted and filmed was later discovered dead by the side of the road after being hit by a car.The incident was reported to Devon and Cornwall Police who said the dead animal was reported lying dead by the side of the A39 on August 26 and was dropped off at a local vet.Others have been seen around mainly eastern Cornwall over the years.Previously, experts predicted wallaby sightings would grow more common in the British Isles.In recent years, the hopping mammals have been spotted in Devon, Cornwall, Loch Lomond in Scotland, the Chiltern Hills in Oxfordshire and in Nottinghamshire. A historic colony in the Peak District is thought to have died out.The animals may even be breeding in the wild, according to one expert who has been tracking sightings of the invasive species for years, meaning the sight of a mother marsupial with joeys in tow could become normal in Britain.Marsupials running free in the UK and surrounding territories are believed to be red-necked wallabies, also known as Bennett's wallabies (macropus rufogriseus).Resembling small kangaroos, they can grow to up to three feet (91cm) in height, with females breeding from the age of one, bearing a single young – though they can support several at once.Collectors and zookeepers brought the animals to the UK from Australia sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century.But Dr Anthony Caravaggi, a lecturer in conservation biology at the University of South Wales, says those who brought the animals to Britain did not know how elusive and crafty they are – and as a result, were unprepared for them to escape.'Wallabies are very popular not just in big zoos but also in petting farms - but they're really good at escaping,' he previously told the Daily Mail.'They can dig well, and hop, and they're good with their paws - they can open latches. That puts them out in the countryside - which isn't really that different from their natural habitat on Tasmania.'Five are said to have broken free from a private zoo at Roaches Hall in the Peak District during the Second World War. Some also escaped from Whipsnade Zoo in Bedfordshire in the 1950s.And four were deliberately released in Scotland in 1975 on a deserted island on Loch Lomond – which has since had permission controversially approved for a house to be built by former Desert Island Discs presenter Kirsty Young and her husband Nick Jones.Escapes from wildlife parks, nature sanctuaries and private collections would explain why wild wallabies have been spotted all over Britain – especially in recent years.