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<\/p>\nA South Australian boater is being hailed a hero after rescuing an exhausted wallaby that was spotted swimming out to sea in south-west Victoria.<\/p>\n
Visiting boater Matt Smith said he spotted the wallaby near the Portland marina on Friday morning. \u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n
“I’m on a visiting yacht, and I was tidying up out back and I could hear these seagulls squawking at something near the end of the marina here,” he said.<\/p>\n
“When I looked over I thought it was a dog, but when looked a bit closer I realised it was a wallaby.”<\/p>\n
Matt Smith says the terrified wallaby initially jumped out of the boat, after being rescued. (Supplied: Matt Smith)<\/p>\n
Mr Smith rowed out in a dinghy to the wallaby, which was quickly tiring and swimming into deeper water, more than 100 metres offshore.<\/p>\n
“I don’t think it would’ve lasted much longer if it started heading out [to sea],” he said. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Getting it to join him in the boat was easy enough. Enticing it to stay with him was another thing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“On the first attempt it actually got on the boat, into the dinghy, and then it jumped out again,” he said.<\/p>\n
He was eventually able to get the wallaby to dry land, where it was met by wildlife carers.<\/p>\n
The swimming wallaby<\/p>\n
It’s not unusual for kangaroos and wallabies to swim, especially if they are being chased by another animal, such as a dog or dingo.<\/p>\n
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