A wallaby has been found safe and well after almost four months on the run in the South East.
Large-scale searches were launched after the young marsupial was reported missing from Waterford Castle during the summer.
Joey, the wallaby, belongs to Seamus Walsh, owner of Waterford Castle.
After he went missing and was believed dead, he was spotted last month in Faithlegg, Co. Waterford.
Seamus had previously offered a reward to anyone who was able to help find Joey and return him safely.
Young Wallaby Joey spotted in Faithlegg recently - Credit: Damien Tiernan
Waterford Castle groundskeeper says they are thrilled to have him home safe and sound.
Mick Cleere says he and three others were successful in catching him when he was spotted and outlined how they returned him home safely.
"We said we would give it an attempt to see could we bring him home.
"We got there and believe it or not he was asleep at one side of the ditch.
"We made a bit of a plan together to try move in on him and that's what we done, there were four of us there.
"He had to get back into the right hands and get back to the island safe."
It had been reported that Joey's mother Sheila, was in poor health since his departure.
"Sheila went into a kind of hibernation, or hiding underneath the trees," Mr Walsh said.
"She went through a bit of depression when the baby disappeared because obviously one night he just swam across the river."
Mr Walsh has owned Sheila and Joey since his 21st birthday and brought them to Waterford Castle for their grass grazing habits.
He said "the reason I sourced wallabies is because they're actually golf course friendly.
Thank you to everyone who has been assisting in the effort to reunite Joey with his mother Sheila back at Waterford Castle. The search is ongoing and we hope to have positive news soon #waterfordjoey #whereisjoey
Posted by Waterford Castle Hotel & Golf Resort on Thursday, October 13, 2022
Mr. Walsh continued to say that "they eat grass to a similar level as to what Tom Mulally or Mick Cleere or any of the boys up there would cut it to.
"In Melbourne, if you go golfing, you're as likely to see a mob of kangaroos or wallabies as you are people on it."
Mr Walsh was eager for the safe return of Joey and had offered a reward in recent weeks of "a couple of hundred euros to anybody that can put it in a yard or anywhere we can catch it."
Thankfully, the young wallaby has been found safe and well and will be returned to life at Waterford Castle with his mother Sheila.
