A female wallaby was rescued in Somerset after roaming free in the county for months.
Staff from Tropiquaria Zoo feared the red-necked wallaby, or bennett's wallaby, would be attacked by dogs or become a road casualty due to its small szie.
The wallaby was eventually caught in the harbour town of Watchet, with the help of locals who boxed the animal in an enclosed paddock.
Chris Moiser and Jane Bassett, director and co-director of the zoo, attended the scene where the wallaby was spotted with long nets and spent "a few hectic minutes" chasing it down.
Mr Moiser said the species are usually found in their native Eastern Australia and Tasmania, but small groups are known to be wild in the UK, France and New Zealand.
The marsupials, which are around knee height, also colonised in areas of Britain such as Norfolk, Buckinghamshire and the Peak District.
Mr Moiser said: "Fortunately they seem to do little to damage to the domestic ecology, so where they do establish there are usually no great efforts to eradicate them.
"This one did not escape from Tropiquaria, but because we keep the species and people see them when visiting us they do tend to call us first when they see them.
"There are a number of private keepers in the area that I am aware of, but they are proving difficult to contact."
As the wallabies are as heavy as a small roe deer, hitting one in the car could potentially cause serious damaged to not only the animal but the vehicle, he added.
