Zookeepers at the Memphis Zoo in Tennessee said they found the wallaby that went missing during a Wednesday move to an animal hospital, prompted by rising floodwaters around its outdoor enclosure.
Honey Bunch, the 21-month-old wallaby, was found alive and well Friday morning hiding near his exhibit after a zookeeper noticed tracks leading toward a bush.
Jessica Faulk, the zoo’s spokesperson, said that zookeepers suspect "he was there the whole time."
“It was an area right behind the exhibit ... that had been searched multiple times in the past 36 hours, but he was camouflaged really well and hidden very well under a bush,” Faulk said.
The forecast for severe storms across Tennessee on Wednesday had prompted zookeepers to closely monitor the wallabies and other Australian animals that were housed together in the new KangaZoo exhibit, Jessica Faulk, a spokesperson for the zoo, said Thursday in an email.
Faulk said flooding had caused Lick Creek, which runs around the KangaZoo, to overflow its banks in the past, but "nothing that compares to the flooding we saw last night."
"The team had been watching the creek for any signs of flooding. But, as with all flash flooding, it happens so fast," Faulk wrote.
The zoo said in a news release, "We had staff at the zoo as it started to flood and began evacuation procedures."
But when keepers tallied the animals at the hospital, they realized one was unaccounted for.
"Immediately, zoo staff began searching for the missing animal during the massive storm. Zoo staff has continued actively searching for the animal this morning, however, the wallaby has still not been located," the release said.
The Memphis Police Department assisted in the search.
The Memphis Commercial Appeal reported that the wallabies "had been overseen by zookeepers in a separate section in preparation for a VIP section featuring wallabies meant to open in April" after the KangaZoo's debut in March.
Faulk said there are four wallabies in total.
Any member of the public who sees the wallaby is encouraged not to approach it and to contact the Memphis Zoo at 901-333-6500. The zoo said wallabies are gentle and fairly skittish animals that are shorter than kangaroos.
While some zoo escapees are never found, others like Honey Bunch are located. In March a zoo flamingo that made a wing for it during a Kansas storm in 2005 was spotted, again, on the Texas coast.
