The wallaby was pursued by police cars and officers on foot across the famous landmark before being caught in a nearby park.
New South Wales Police said: “Police have responded to an unexpected call for assistance this morning after a wallaby was spotted crossing the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
“Officers from Harbourside and North Shore local area commands were called to the bridge just before 5am on Tuesday (6pm GMT on Monday) after the marsupial was spotted in lane eight on the northern side of the bridge.
“Traffic controllers from the Transport Management Centre monitored the wallaby as it hopped across to lane one and, without indicating, exited onto Cahill Expressway then to Macquarie Street.
“Officers took the startled macropod into police custody near the Conservatorium of Music, with the Police Mounted Unit arriving on scene soon after to take it to the zoo for veterinary assessment.
“It’s thought the wayward wallaby might have made its way to the bridge from a golf course in Cammeray.”
Sydney’s Taronga Zoo then took the animal for X-rays which revealed it had not suffered any serious injuries.
Senior vet Larry Vogelnest said: “The swamp wallaby remains in a stable condition at Taronga Wildlife Hospital’s intensive care unit…our hope is that the wallaby will be able to be released back into the wild.”
Authorities saw the funny side of the incident as an officer failed to contain a laugh in the footage released of the animal causing travel chaos.
Inspector Kylie Smith declared: “Sydney’s got the best harbour in the world, so I’d imagine he was taking in the view.
“We actually do have wallabies or kangaroos that jump down the main street of Sydney.”
Locals were left shocked by the event as they called into Sydney radio station 2GB to give their account of the jumping marsupial.
A caller named Ray stated: “I’m from the ‘bush’ (rural Australia), so I’m used to see them running around all over the place but I’ve never seen one so close to the city before.”
A second caller Dean added: “There was a police car or something following it at a really slow pace and there was a lot of cars behind it, so nothing was getting past.
“It was just hopping down the street: Never seen anything like it. That’s Australia for you.”
A third named Michelle went on: “I thought ‘No, no way do you see a kangaroo in the city like that’. I’ve only seen them in the country.
“I just thought of people’s safety and the safety of the little kangaroo or wallaby.”