Early morning commuters were surprised Tuesday to find a wallaby hopping across the Sydney Harbour Bridge, leading to a brief police chase.
New South Wales state police said they were called to the bridge just before 5 a.m. and followed the animal, which looks like a small kangaroo, across the entire length of the bridge.
"Traffic controllers from the Transport Management Centre monitored the wallaby as it hopped across to lane one and, without indicating, exited onto Cahill Expressway then to Macquarie Street," the police said in a light-hearted statement.
Police footage posted on Twitter shows the wallaby proceeding in a southbound direction in the left-hand lanes of the bridge.
Excited commuters called into local radio station 2GB to report the unusual sighting.
"I'm from the bush so I'm used to seeing them running around all over the place, but I've never seen one so close to the city before," said a caller named Ray.
Another caller named Dean simply said: "That's Australia for you!"
Although quiet during predawn hours, the iconic bridge connects major roads and business centers on the north and south side of Sydney Harbour, making it a busy thoroughfare at peak hours.
Police eventually captured the marsupial, which was later identified as an adult male swamp wallaby, outside a music school and took it to Taronga Zoo for assessment.
Police believe the wallaby made its way to the bridge from a nearby golf course.
"The swamp wallaby remains in a stable condition at Taronga Wildlife Hospital's Intensive Care Unit," says Taronga's senior veterinarian Larry Vogelnest.
"At this stage, it doesn't appear to have any serious injuries, however, it will be carefully assessed over the next 24-48 hours."
