“She was shocked.”
The other day in New South Wales, Australia, a man named Geoff was running an errand when he noticed a curious scene unfolding in a grocery store parking lot. A small crowd had gathered around a parked car, all fixated on something unusual.
As Geoff approached, he discovered the source of the commotion—a young wallaby was trapped inside the car’s grille.
“I was shocked to see it relatively unharmed,” Geoff told Yahoo! News. “But with the intense heat and no shade in the parking lot, it must have been suffering.”
Wallabies, native to Australia and New Guinea, are agile marsupials known for their powerful hind legs, built for traversing rocky terrain. Unfortunately, this particular wallaby had found himself in a precarious situation.
With bystanders snapping photos, the frightened animal grew increasingly distressed. Determined to ease its anxiety, Geoff and a few compassionate onlookers used umbrellas to shield the car, creating some much-needed shade while they waited for help.
Soon, WIRES Wildlife Rescue volunteer Mark Badgery arrived, but by then, the wallaby had wedged itself even deeper into the grille. Realizing that sedation was the safest option, Badgery called Byron Bay Wildlife Hospital, and veterinarian Bree Talbot quickly arrived to assist.
With expert precision, Talbot sedated the wallaby, allowing Badgery to gently extract him from the tight space. A careful examination revealed an astonishing outcome—no broken bones or visible injuries.
Moments later, the car’s owner returned to find her vehicle surrounded by rescuers and onlookers.
“She was completely stunned,” a WIRES representative told The Dodo. “She hadn’t noticed anything unusual while driving and never felt a thing. Wallabies are smaller than kangaroos and hop low to the ground, so it likely ran beneath the moving car and became trapped in the grille.”
Rescuers affectionately named the resilient wallaby Arnie—short for Arnold Schwarzenegger, a nod to his remarkable strength. Now in the care of a WIRES rehabilitator, Arnie is thriving, socializing with other orphaned wallabies, and finally hopping freely once more.