Smugglers likely dropped the wallabies when smuggling them from Australia, authorities said.
Four wallabies smuggled to Vietnam will be transported to their new home in the country’s northwest region after authorities ruled out releasing them back to the wild.
On the morning of Nov. 8, residents found the first wallaby in the bushes on the outskirts of Cao Bang province in Vietnam’s rural north. They discovered two additional wallabies the following day on the street and on Nov. 11, forest rangers spotted the fourth one.
Smugglers likely brought the animals from Australia and “dropped them along the Vietnam-China border,” according to Vietnamese authorities.
The Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources identified them as red-neck wallabies, which are middle-sized macropods native to temperate and fertile parts of eastern Australia and Tasmania.
At the time of being captured, each of the wallabies weighed about 8 to 10 kilograms and were in healthy condition.
Secure Your Future
