Search is on for missing wallaby in Arlington: Have you seen Bella?

ARLINGTON, Wash. -- People travel from all over the state to see the collection of kangaroos and wallabies at the Outback Farm in Arlington.

Boomer is one of the latest additions, just transported up from a petting zoo in Maple Valley. He’s there, along with two other wallabies, to be housed for a few months through the winter. But 6-year old Bella never made it into her holding pen.

“When we were moving her, she got spooked and just jumped,” said Ray Strom, owner of the Outback Kangaroo Farm.

Bella hopped through the woods and managed to make it across a busy Highway 530, and straight down a steep embankment to the Stillaguamish River.

She was last seen heading down the river bank toward town.



She would certainly stand out, but so far no one has spotted her.

“If I find her, I’ll put it her the back of my car and bring her back,” said Hannah Gibson while playing with her child at a nearby park. “I’m not afraid of a wallaby by any means.”

Strom said there’s no reason to be afraid of Bella. She is used to being around people and is gentle, but there is concern about what else she might run into in the wild, like coyotes and cougars.

“There’s plenty of foliage out there to eat and there’s water,” said Strom. “It’s just the predators and the stress.”

So the farm workers continue to search for her, hoping at some point to have good news for the animal’s owner, who named her petting zoo after Bella.

“She’s very upset,” said Strom. “This was her baby.”

The 6-year-old wallaby is about 2 1/2 feet tall and weighs 35 pounds. It has golden brown fur and a white belly.

If you spot her, contact the Outback Kangaroo Farm at (425) 210-2706.