Escaped wallaby 'Rex' found safe near NJ shopping center

All right, now to an action news update. And a wandering walabee that had been hopping around a South Jersey community is now back home safely at its petting zoo. The animal had been on the loose for about a day in the cold air before being recaptured. Action News reporter Cheyenne Kurin just talked to one of the farm owners and has reaction tonight. Cheyenne, >> Rick, his owners are very happy that Rex the walabe is home tonight. And they also say that he is happy to be back as well. There were so many people in our area really concerned about him after he went missing. And a lot of those people actually played a huge role in him coming back home safely. I want you to take a quick look at him coming home earlier tonight. He's also right next to some of those people that helped find him. He was actually located near the Walmart in Williamstown where he was last spotted. This is actually only half a mile away from where he lives at Lots of Love Farm. His owners say they received many calls from people who saw him but just couldn't catch him. But finally, after a team effort, the three-year-old Marsupio was captured. Tonight, his family says they are so relieved and are thanking everyone for their help. >> Praise the Lord. Like, praise the Lord. You know, it's a lot of prayers. It's really hard to catch a kangaroo. I mean, I don't know if you've ever done that, but uh it's hard. So, you know what? It was a whole boatload of prayers. I mean, all the help is great, [laughter] but he's a tricky little bugger. >> Yeah. I We were about to like kind of leave the Walmart parking lot and I saw something moving right behind the fence and I I like screamed like, "Stop. Like, I think I see it." And then, you know, I tried to get a closer look and I saw that, you know, it wasn't Wallabe and then she was able to see it and confirm that's what it was. So then, you know, we just turned the car off to try to not freak it out. And then we called the place and I was just like I was I couldn't believe it. Like there's no way we just found this thing that's been lost for hours. Just something you would not expect to see in Jersey. A walabe wandering around. But fortunately, people were keeping a close eye out for Rex. He's only three years old. Now, if you were wondering how Rex went missing, his owners say that because of the cold weather. They actually changed his cage and they're figuring that it must have not been closed all the way. But again, this definitely took a team effort. The family is really thanking the community police. They say there even was a drone search. A lot of effort. They say they actually were really concerned if Rex was ever going to return home. But then once they saw all the concern from people, it gave them a little bit of hope. We're live tonight on the Parkway. Cheyenne Karen, Channel 6 Action News. Rick. >> All right. All's well that ends well. Thank you, Cheyenne.