WALLABY IN CORNWALL DIES AFTER VEHICLE COLLISION

A wallaby which was spotted running on the roads of Cornwall has died after being hit by a vehicle.

Devon and Cornwall Police said officers were notified just before 22:00 BST on Friday of reports of an injured wallaby in the road on the A39 at St Columb.

Officers attended to find that the wallaby had been hit by a vehicle and had sadly died. It was dropped to a local veterinary clinic.

Newquay Zoo and the Screech Owl Sanctuary confirmed it was not one of their animals.

John Meek, from the zoo, said from footage seen on social media that it was a red-necked wallaby that "theoretically could survive in Cornwall, but the only danger is the cars".

'Not something you expect'

Danny Johnson, from Newquay, said he and his friends were driving towards the A30 in the late evening when they joined a build up of traffic.

He said: "We're thinking what's going on, one of my mates gets out the car to check and then we see these legs just sort of jumping around.

"We're just confused; we didn't have a clue what was going on, next thing you know police cars pull up - I just started recording... then a kangaroo or a wallaby starts jumping towards us.

"It's just a bit of a shock really because it's not something you expect to see in Cornwall at least."

Mr Johnson said was expecting to see "a lost dog" but was "gobsmacked" when the wallaby appeared.

He said: "We saw it, we were really excited to see it because it's not an animal that you see every day.

"Then we heard about the news that it passed... definitely not good at all.

"It was sad but there was nothing we could really do about it.

"The police tried their best but, at the end of the day, there was nothing they could do, unfortunately."

Follow BBC Cornwall on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].

More on this story

2024-08-24T13:41:26Z dg43tfdfdgfd