Highgate Cemetery wallaby caught in school playground - Update

A wallaby spotted hopping between graves in Highgate Cemetery, London, has been found, but officers believe a second wallaby could still be in the woods. The wallaby was caught near to the site after it left the cemetery and local people as well as RSPCA officers joined forces to try and track it down and prevent it being injured on the roads. The wallaby is now in the care of the RSPCA.



A spokeswoman for the charity said the animal is believed to be one of a pair dumped in Highgate Woods, and the second wallaby is still thought to be on the loose in north London. On Thursday morning drivers were asked to be careful after the wallaby was spotted leaving the cemetery and RSPCA officers moved in to try and help it.


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It was caught by officers at York Rise in Dartmouth Park in north London after hopping through a playground where it was seen by children. RSPCA officer Leigh Summers was called to York Rise near Kentish Town at about 7.30am on Thursday. On advice from London Zoo he armed himself with a tennis net to try and wrap around the wallaby to stop it kicking out with its powerful back legs.





He said: “I had been told to handle the wallaby by grasping its tail and hold it as high as I could off the ground and as far away from me as possible to stop it finding any purchase for its legs. In fact, when I did grasp it the animal just hung there, relaxed, very much like a cat does when it is scruffed by its mother so I knew it was used to being handled like this. The biggest problem I had was untangling the netting around it when I got it back to the van.” Inspector Summers said the wallaby was in a highly populated area where it was in danger of harming itself or motorists.

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