animals

Folks on the Lincoln Memorial University campus and around Harrogate, Tennessee, saw an unexpected visitor on campus on Wednesday.That’s because a wallaby, which one might expect to see in Australia or at a zoo, hopped its way around campus.The university said the wallaby, who wasn’t named, is the pet of a nearby resident and that the animal had escaped.”Campus wildlife alert! This morning, our campus had a surprise visitor a Harrogate resident’s escaped pet wallaby! The unexpected guest was spotted bounding across campus and entered the woods behind Grant-Lee Hall,” the university said in a Facebook post published before local and state officials were able to safely capture the escaped wallaby and return it to its owner.The rescue came after the animal bounced around the campus and ended up in the woods behind a building. That’s where officials were able to capture it.The school, in a second Facebook post published after the animal was captured, said the unexpected visitor brought added joy to the campus.”Thank you wallaby for bounding in and bringing all the smiles to us today. You have captured the heart of all us Railsplitters,” Lincoln Memorial University said in the post.The university said the event ended up being a bonus learning experience for some students.In the Facebook post, the school said, “A couple of our Lincoln Memorial University College of Veterinary Medicine received an opportunity for some extra hands-on learning when the LMU campus had a surprise visitor this morning!”The university said the “cute little guy” wandered around the town and then onto the LMU campus.After it was captured, the critter was examined by Dr. Paul Nader with Lincoln Memorial University. “Our CVM students were eager to help and we are happy to announce that the wallaby is now safe and happy at home with his owner,” the university said in its post. Lincoln Memorial University released images of the animal bounding around campus on roads and near parking areas, as well as photos of students and officials who were involved with the safe capture.See images of the wallaby having a hopping good time on the university’s campus in the video player above.