Wallaby found dead in the gutter on Wellington street

The wallaby was found lying dead in the gutter. Photo / Instagram

A Wellington cyclist had an experience straight from the Outback during a morning bike ride after coming across a wallaby on a city street.

Unfortunately the Australian native was dead, lying in the gutter in Happy Valley Rd, which leads to the capital's main rubbish dump.

Lyall told Stuff he did not know how the animal had died, or whether or not it had escaped from Wellington Zoo.

He had notified the Department of Conservation.

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Misplaced your Wallaby? Owhiro road.. Brooklyn, New Zealand ! #wtf

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"My initial reaction was a double take because I didn't recognise if it was a possum or a rat," Lyall said.

Wellington City Council spokeswoman Victoria Barton-Chapple told Stuff neither council staff nor contractors had ever seen a wallaby around the capital city.

Landcare Research said there had been five species of wallaby in New Zealand for over 140 years.

Populations are centred in South Canterbury (Bennett's wallaby), Rotorua (dama wallaby) and Kawau Island (dama, parma, brush-tailed rock, and swamp wallabies).