June 8 (UPI) — An Australian wildlife park intensified its search for a missing Tasmanian devil after the absconded animal was caught on a resident’s home security camera.
Paradise Country in the Oxenford suburb of Gold Coast, Queensland, said Mary, the Tasmanian devil that escaped from the wildlife park last Tuesday morning, was caught on a home security camera during the weekend.
The resident, Caitlyn Wis, lives over a mile from Paradise Country.
“I got a notification on my security camera and checked the footage — I thought it was a cat,” Wis told 7NEWS.
Paradise Country confirmed the animal seen wandering Wis’ driveway in the footage is Mary. The park is asking nearby residents to monitor their home security cameras for further sightings.
Officials said they are now concentrating the search for the Tasmanian devil in the area, which is adjacent to the Saltwater Creek Reserve.
Mary arrived at Paradise Country in May and was still in a quarantine enclosure when she escaped.
Lauren Mousley, the park’s curator of native and exotic wildlife, said Mary’s means of escape from her quarantine enclosure are “a bit of mystery,” but zookeepers suspect “an abnormally large leap” was involved.
Tasmanian devils no longer live in the wild on the Australian mainland, and fewer than 25,000 remain in the wild in Tasmania.
