Staff at one of Australia’s most famous zoos are frantically searching for an animal that escaped its enclosure in the early hours of the morning through a drain.
The wallaby managed to make a getaway on Saturday from the Australia Zoo, founded by the family of the late Steve Irwin, near Beerwah on Queensland‘s Sunshine Coast around 6.30am.
The animal is understood to have escaped through the main drain at the facility with staff on the hunt for the animal.
Staff seen outside the grounds of the zoo searching for the animal’s whereabouts.
Daily Mail Australia contacted Australia Zoo for comment.
A Wallaby has escaped from the Australia Zoo (pictured) on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast in the early hours of Saturday morning
Officers from Queensland Police were called to Steve Irwin Way to respond to an ‘animal related’ traffic hazard.
A spokesperson from Queensland Police told Daily Mail officers are in the area to monitor traffic.
‘Police were called…to assist in locating an escaped wallaby from a zoo along Steve Irwin Way this morning,’ the spokesperson said.
‘The wallaby escaped the zoo and headed west towards Steve Irwin Way.’
Police have advised anyone who spots the animal to contact the zoo as soon as possible.
The wallaby is believed to have escaped through a main drain at the facility with staff at the zoo seen outside the grounds of the facility searching for the animal (pictured stock image of wallabies)
Australia Zoo – formerly known as the Queensland Reptile and Fauna Park – was made famous by crocodile hunter Steve Irwin.
Mr Irwin’s family founded the popular park in the 1970s where it became home to dozens of native wildlife.
The park is visited by around 700,000 tourists and locals annually, and features wildlife tours, various exhibits and around 1,200 animals.