‘Very unusual’ creature, possibly a stowaway, rescued from city in Australia. See it
A “very unusual” and out-of-place creature turned up in central Brisbane, Australia, photos and videos show. Shocked rescuers helped the injured animal out of a tree and, eventually, back to the wild.
Brisbane residents noticed a spotted-tailed quoll on a mangrove tree hanging over the river on June 18, the Queensland Department of Environment, Science and Innovation said in a July 26 news release.
Quolls are an endangered marsupial native to Australia. These small, roughly cat-sized predators live primarily in forests and woodlands.
The presence of a quoll in urban Brisbane was “very, very unusual,” Wildlife Ambulance Magan-djin, an environmental conservation organization, said in a June 18 video.
The video shows the brown, spotted quoll perched in a “very precarious position” among the leaves.
“Wildlife officers do not know how the quoll came to be in Brisbane, but we don’t believe it was being kept as a pet because it exhibited wild behaviour,” Cameron Wregg, a wildlife officer with the department, said in the release. “It may have been a stowaway on a truck or in someone’s camping equipment, then been deliberately or accidentally released.”
“When I took the call from Brisbane Area Rescue Network I really didn’t believe the animal would actually be a Quoll,” Linda Rose, a volunteer with Wildlife Ambulance Magan-djin volunteer, said in a news release from the Queensland Conservation Council.
“He was so out of place there by the river with people and dogs just (feet) away and must have been terrified,” Rose said.
“What a beautiful surprise,” Pine Rivers Koala Care, another group involved in the rescue, said in a June 18 Facebook post.
Rescuers eventually managed to coax the spotted-tailed quoll out of the tree after trying for eight hours. RSPCA took the animal to a specialized team at one of their facilities, officials said.
“On examination, we found that it had a slight injury to the tip of its tail and some minor skin lesions,” Tim Portas, the RSPCA Queensland Wildlife Veterinary Director, said in the news release.
The quoll underwent surgery for its tail injury and was treated for skin inflammation, Portas said. It “has since made a full recovery.”
Wildlife officials released the animal near a “known habitat for spotted-tailed quolls” on July 25, the department said. The release was “successful” and an “excellent outcome.”
A photo shows the quoll moments before its release back into the wild.
Officials thanked the people involved for alerting the RSPCA and handling the situation responsibly.
Brisbane, Queensland, is the third-largest city in Australia and along the country’s eastern coast.
This story was originally published August 1, 2024 at 7:00 AM with the headline "‘Very unusual’ creature, possibly a stowaway, rescued from city in Australia. See it."
