Ex-Wallaby catches wallaby on bridge

Apparently it takes a (former) Wallaby to catch a wallaby.

About 5am on Tuesday (local time) a wallaby decided to hop over the Sydney Harbour Bridge, travelling south before taking the Cahill Expressway towards the Conservatorium.

Also on the famous Australian bridge on Tuesday morning was former Wallabies captain Nick Farr-Jones, who decided to help out.

‘‘The police were trying to capture it as you would on the bridge, and they were having trouble so I just did my best to help them,’’ he told Sydney radio station 2GB.

Farr-Jones, who made 63 rugby union appearances for Australia, said he was heading into work at Circular Quay when he noticed the police on the bridge.

‘‘It’s unprecedented trying to grab a hold of a kangaroo on the Harbour Bridge,’’ he said.

‘‘[There was] a bit of chaos, but when you realised it was a wallaby it was really unusual.’’

The wallaby was eventually rounded up, and taken by mounted police to Taronga Zoo in a horse float.

‘‘It was quite distressed, being held by two of the mounted police,’’ said senior vet Dr Larry Vogelnest, who anaesthetised the adult male swamp wallaby before examining it thoroughly.

‘‘Fortunately there didn’t seem to be any significant injuries; it had some minor grazes on its face and its hind legs.’’

The macropod was given some medication and put on a drip, and staff at the Taronga Wildlife Hospital were monitoring it for signs of undiscovered injuries.

‘‘These animals are quite susceptible to stress, and it causes muscle damage so I don’t know whether that’s happening,’’ he said.

‘‘Over the next 24 hours or so we’ll get a good idea of whether there is any of those complications.’’

It was initially believed the wallaby might have come from the near the Cammeray Golf Course.

However, greenskeepers said they had never seen wallabies on the course though they are becoming more common around Sydney.