From Staff Reports

SIMPSONVILLE — Following highly publicized escapes of monkeys and then emus, “now, in the latest twist, it’s wallabies on the run,” following a late-night escape here, Greenville television station FOX Carolina reported on Dec. 27.

However,  “they were loose only briefly, as officials said the search for two missing wallabies in Simpsonville is over, after the second one was located” on Dec. 27, the TV station reported later Dec. 27.

Simpsonville officials said the wallabies, Creed and Sylvester, escaped the Nights of Lights petting zoo at Heritage Park on Dev. 26. Nights of Lights is billed as a walk-through Christmas event, with rides and ice-skating, in addition to the petting zoo.

A spokesperson for Simpsonville soon confirmed that Creed was recaptured, but the search continued for Sylvester, as area residents reported sightings.

On Dec. 27, police said Sylvester was located on Fowler Road, sometime after 10:30 a.m. after they received a tip.

“Sylvester was given medication to minimize stress, recaptured and returned back to his facility,” FOX Carolina noted.

Payton and Alex Fowler captured Sylvester, a wallaby on the loose, outside a home on Fowler Road in Simpsonville. 

“Sylvester is alert, in excellent condition, with his mate, awake and eating right now,” Chris Sharpe, manager of Eudora Farms Safari Park, told FOX Carolina.

The TV station added, “It’s not yet known how exactly the enclosure was breached. Mark Nesbit, the owner of Eudora Farms, said a manager making his morning rounds found their cage door open and the lock was off.

“Wallabies are marsupials in the same taxonomic family as kangaroos. The pair are both males, about 4 to 5 years old.”