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You can make Braddon as funky and urban and hipster as you like and then along comes a swamp wallaby who reminds us all that Canberra's trendiest suburb is as much a part of the bush capital as anywhere else. The wallaby spent Tuesday night trapped in a locked courtyard at Centrelink at the epicentre of Canberra cool, Lonsdale Street. It appears the wallaby wandered in at some point when the courtyard gate was open and then became trapped when the gate was shut for the night. Centrelink staff discovered the furry interloper when they turned up for work on Wednesday morning. ACT Parks and Conservation ranger Chris Lambert said he and colleague Leith Collard responded to a call from Access Canberra about 8.30am for help to rescue the trapped animal. "It would have come down from nearby bushland, most likely Mount Ainslie," Chris said. "They wander into backyards, usually looking for food and water, and that's probably what it was doing this time." While the wallaby might have been looking for a bespoke beer or smashed avocado on sourdough, it was more than happy with a carrot and apple offered through the gate by Centrelink staff. "Our usual advice to people is to leave their gate open to let the animal out by itself but in this instance the gate was kept closed to prevent the wallaby wandering out to the cars on Lonsdale Street," Chris said. Department of Human Services staff member Sam described the excitement. "Some of the staff here heard a bang late yesterday, but it wasn't until today when someone went outside for their morning break that we realised the bang was actually a wallaby in the courtyard," Sam said. "We gave it a bowl of water, some carrots and an apple, as it had obviously been there for a little while. "After the ranger left, we checked and it had drunk a fair bit of the water, eaten the carrots and was getting stuck into the apple. "I've been here for three years, and this is the first time I've ever seen anything like this." The rangers quickly caught the wallaby and within minutes he - it's assumed it was a male due to his size - was happily bounding into the bush at Mount Ainslie. It was a heart-warming moment. "It's a good feeling," Chris said, of seeing the wallaby back in his natural habitat. "We see a lot of things that aren't so nice so to see it happy felt good."

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