A wallaby that caught the attention of people from across the UK has finally been rescued - but not before hopping around a housing estate for two weeks.
Nicknamed the 'Chopwell Wallaby,' the male marsupial left residents gobsmacked after it found itself hopping around the Gateshead estate earlier this month.
13-year-old Cia Christie caught the moment on video when she saw the lone wallaby roaming in her street while on her way to school.
Read more: 'I could not believe my eyes': Teen shocked as she finds a wallaby in her street
At the time, she said she "couldn't believe her eyes," as other residents began to spot the wallaby making its way across Chopwell.
Since then, the mystery of the loose wallaby has caught the attention of people far and wide, even making an appearance on BBC Breakfast last week.
But now, there has been a happy ending as the wallaby has finally been rescued after volunteers hopped to the rescue after being called at 5am on Saturday.
The Blyth Wildlife Rescue charity said its emergency medic team was mobilised to the area immediately, with three vehicles arriving at the scene at 6.30am.
From there, the wallaby was sedated to allow safe onward transport after already sustaining a severe injury to his face, trying to get out of a trap that had been set up.
Arriving at Wrights' Vets in Birtley, he received a full assessment including X-rays to confirm he had not suffered any fractures.
Meanwhile, a wound on his head with bone exposed on his nose was cleaned and successfully sutured under general anaesthetic.
After several hours of monitoring, he was moved to his forever home at Northumberland College Zoo at Kirkley Hall and named "choppy."
Blyth Wildlife Rescue said: "We would like to express our thanks to Salem, Joanne, Lisa and Reuben of BeastWatch UK and The Lost Dog Trapping Team for their long stint closely tracking and containing him.
"Our sincere gratitude also goes to the fantastic team at Northumberland College Zoo who have provided “Choppy” with a forever home.
"Without the expertise of our vet team at Wrights Vets, this rescue would have been much more difficult and we are extremely grateful to them.
"This was a long and stressful rescue for all involved, taking 12 hours from start to finish. There was a large amount of operational logistics involved today, complicated by the last-minute nature of the emergency.
"The operational costs for the charity alone is estimated to be around £450 for the work completed today.
"All volunteers are unpaid - the charity operates and sustains its own facilities solely from donations from members of the public."
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