Wallaby in Cornwall dies after vehicle collision

Officers found the wallaby had been hit by a vehicle on the A39 and had sadly died on Friday night

A wallaby which was spotted running on the roads of Cornwall has died after being hit by a vehicle.

Devon and Cornwall Police said officers were notified just before 22:00 BST on Friday of reports of an injured wallaby in the road on the A39 at St Columb.

Officers attended to find that the wallaby had been hit by a vehicle and had sadly died. It was dropped to a local veterinary clinic.

Newquay Zoo and the Screech Owl Sanctuary confirmed it was not one of their animals.

John Meek, from the zoo, said from footage seen on social media that it was a red-necked wallaby that "theoretically could survive in Cornwall, but the only danger is the cars".

Danny Johnson, from Newquay, said he and his friends were driving towards the A30 in the late evening when they joined a build up of traffic.

He said: "We're thinking what's going on, one of my mates gets out the car to check and then we see these legs just sort of jumping around.

"We're just confused; we didn't have a clue what was going on, next thing you know police cars pull up - I just started recording... then a kangaroo or a wallaby starts jumping towards us.

"It's just a bit of a shock really because it's not something you expect to see in Cornwall at least."

Mr Johnson said was expecting to see "a lost dog" but was "gobsmacked" when the wallaby appeared.

He said: "We saw it, we were really excited to see it because it's not an animal that you see every day.

"Then we heard about the news that it passed... definitely not good at all.

"It was sad but there was nothing we could really do about it.

"The police tried their best but, at the end of the day, there was nothing they could do, unfortunately."

'Do not approach'

While the species is native to Australia and other islands in the Pacific, the RSPCA said they were considered "to be established in the wild in Britain".

A spokesperson for the charity said this was most likely due to wallabies escaping from captivity.

Anyone who spots a wallaby in the wild has been urged not to approach them and to report it to UK Wallaby Sightings and iRecord, the spokesperson said.

They added: "Anyone who finds an injured wallaby in need of help should monitor the animal from a distance and call the RSPCA emergency line."