Dora the Explorer - the wandering wallaby - is home safe and sound after being found near Kilworth village in North Cork early this morning.
Dora's owner Andrew Boyle, who runs Araglin Animal Centre from where Dora escaped last week, spoke this morning of his relief that the three-year-old female marsupial was found safe and well.
"I got a call at six o'clock this morning from this guy, Eoin Hislop who spotted her near Kilworth, just outside of the village and fair play, he stood with her until I got there," said Mr Boyle.
“She was in the front garden of a house so I pulled up the van right across the driveway to block - so my wife, Annabel and myself went in to try and catch her and it was good because she was in a garden.
“She was in behind bushes so I got down on my knees and crawled in and Annabel went around the other side of the bush and we tackled her very calmly and Annabel actually caught her by the tail
“I had an empty feed back in the back of the van so I just stuck that over her head and kept her calm and I sat in next to her in the back seat as we came back here to the sanctuary.”
Mr Boyle praised Mr Hislop not just for contacting him but following his advice to anyone who saw the animal to stay with her and keep her in sight until he arrived at the scene.
“She’s safe and sound and has no injuries, which is brilliant because if she had any injuries, even a little scratch, it could prove fatal - she had loads and loads to eat so she wasn’t undernourished in any way.”
Mr Boyle thinks Dora escaped from Araglin Animal Sanctuary early last week when he and his wife were away for a few days as he discovered she was missing on their return on Thursday.
But she was already making her presence felt with taxi driver, Noel Smith, hardly believing his eyes when he spotted her hopping along the roads at Mountain Barracks near Kilworth around 5.30am on Friday.
Mr Smith filmed Dora to prove to everyone that he had seen a kangaroo or wallaby and reported the matter to Fermoy gardaí who issued an appeal to anyone who saw the animal to contact them.
Mr Boyle then issued an appeal and explained Dora would not have any great road sense so he was concerned that she might be injured by a passing car or possibly injure herself when trying to flee from people.
“Stress would be the big worry but she’s absolutely fine- the rest of the mob - the other wallabies here - hardly noticed her coming back into the enclosure but she’s absolutely normal so all’s well that ends well.”
