A wallaby bounced over the Sydney Harbour Bridge on Tuesday morning. Credit:NSW Police A caller named Jesse told 2GB he thought there had been an accident on the Harbour Bridge before he spotted the creature. "There was some flashing lights saying there's an accident on or something, so I'm slowing down to 40, and the next thing I see a kangaroo just sitting there in the lane," he said. Another driver, Ray, who was heading into the city, told the radio station he saw it standing in the middle of the Cahill Expressway at Circular Quay. "It was just standing there minding its own business with a police car there with flashing lights and everything," he said.

The wallaby exited onto the Cahill Expressway and turned down Macquarie Street. Credit:NSW Police "I'm from the bush so I'm used to seeing them roaming about all over the place, but I've never seen one so close into the city before". Dean told 2GB he had to slow down to check that it was real. Police took the wallaby into custody at the Conservatorium. Credit:SEVEN NEWS "There was a police car or something following it at a really slow pace and there was a lot of cars behind it, so nothing was getting past," he said.

"It was just hopping down the street: Never seen anything like it. That's Australia for you." Police followed the wallaby on its journey over the bridge. Credit:NSW Police No way do you see a kangaroo in the city like that. Michelle The police spokeswoman said officers were not sure if the wallaby had been hit by a car but it appeared to be in some distress, so they took the animal to Taronga Zoo to be assessed by a vet. Another driver, Michelle told 2GB she couldn't believe what she was seeing when she spotted the marsupial.

The swamp wallaby was sedated and then assessed by Taronga Zoo's senior vet Dr Larry Vogelnest after it was captured by police. Credit:Taronga Zoo "I thought 'No, no way do you see a kangaroo in the city like that'. I've only seen them in the country," she said. "I just thought of people's safety and the safety of the little kangaroo or wallaby." Taronga Zoo senior veterinarian Dr Larry Vogelnest said the marsupial in question was brought to Taronga Wildlife Hospital in a horse float by mounted police about 6.30am. It had been identified as an adult male swamp wallaby. He said the wallaby was "very stressed" so it was anaesthetised before it was assessed.

"I brought it into the treatment room and examined it thoroughly. Fortunately there didn't seem to be any significant injuries; it had some minor grazes on its face and its hind legs," he said. Whole body x-rays ruled out fractures and major damage, but Dr Vogelnest said the wallaby would be monitored over the next day for any other signs of injury. "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." The senior vet said the wallaby would be released near other swamp wallabies once it was given the all-clear.

Where did the wallaby come from? It's was initially believed the wallaby might have come from the near the Cammeray Golf Course, but greenskeepers said they had never seen wallabies on the course. Kristy Harris, an office manager for wildlife rescue organisation WIRES said while swamp wallabies were common to the Northern Beaches, they were rarer on the north shore. "We had one that showed up in the middle of Chatswood, in the mall in 2016, but generally we don't really see them ," Ms Harris said. "It isn't that common at all, maybe 30 or less come into care with WIRES in the north shore area."

While the macropod likely came from denser bush or from near a golf course, Ms Harris said it was impossible to know where exactly it had come from. "[Swamp wallabies] don't usually travel enormous distances, they don't have a huge home range," she said. Like other macropods swamp wallabies are more active at dawn and dusk, Ms Harris said, and it may have been spooked by a car or a person and ended up on the bridge by mistake. The Taronga Zoo vet said the wallabies were becoming generally more common around the city. "It's unusual to have a wallaby running around on the Harbour Bridge, but there are more and more of these wallabies turning up in bushland close to the city," Dr Vogelnest said.