You'd think people would notice a wallaby hopping around Tucson. It's not like wallabies are a dime a dozen here.
From the Arizona Daily Star Thursday, February 15, 1968:
Oh, Where Can That Wallaby Be?
Willy the Wallaby is missing
Willy is a small kangaroo who is participating in the University of Arizonaβs Ninth Annual International Forum.
Officials feel someone may have βbaggedβ the wallaby since the strange little marsupial is missing from his cage. As part of the forum saluting Australia and New Zealand, the wallaby has been displayed in a cage in front of the Student Union since Monday. He was missing yesterday morning when Student Union director Bill Varney went out to check on him, and since then the campus police have been combing the area.
βHe may have escaped by himself,β said forum chairman Richard Orr, βbut it looks like somebody pried open the fence. He can survive in this climate and eats grass and leaves so heβll probably make it on his own.β
The grey, 14-inch-high critter is on loan from the Randolph Park Zoo, and theyβd certainly like him back.
If you spot βWillyβ hopping around town (and he shouldnβt be hard to miss), the forum officials suggest you call the zoo.
No word was found in the archives as to whether Willy was found or not. We can only hope.
A note: Wallabies are not kangaroos. They belong to the same taxonomic family and are marsupials, but the term "wallaby" is an informal designation.
