Wendell, a Bennett's red-necked wallaby similar to this one, escaped from Saunders Country Critters during a snowstorm on the night of Oct. 28. (CBC)

Volunteers continued searching trails in Ottawa's west end Thursday afternoon for a wallaby that escaped from a private zoo near Kemptville, Ont., more than a week ago.

As of noon Thursday, about a dozen searchers were tramping through the woods near Moodie Drive, carrying pillowcases and calling "Wendell" — the wallaby's name, said CBC's Simon Gardner from the scene.

If Wendell is found, the volunteers will try to coax him to hop into a pillowcase, as the environment would be similar to a mother wallaby's pouch.

Gary Saunders, Wendell's owner, said he was discouraged that the three-year-old Bennett's red-necked wallaby hadn't been seen since 8:30 a.m., when he was spotted among the trails near the intersection of Moodie Drive and Hunt Club Road. However, volunteers said they would continue looking all day.

Gary Saunders said the searchers are all carrying female wallaby urine to attract Wendell's attention. (CBC)

"We all have some female wallaby urine with us. That's really going to draw his attention," said Saunders, who had been searching the area since 2 a.m.

Wendell escaped after a tree fell and breached the fence around his pen at Saunders Country Critters, a zoo about 45 kilometres south of Ottawa, during the season's first snowstorm the night of Oct. 28.

Since then, he has been sighted a number of times in the area a few dozen kilometres west of zoo, and at 1 a.m. Thursday morning, he was spotted hopping northbound on Moodie Drive near Richmond Road in Ottawa, said Gary's wife Carla Saunders.

The woman who saw him called police and they called the Saunders.

Volunteers learned of search on radio

An hour later, Gary Saunders was at the location of the sighting, just before a heavy fog rolled in, hampering the search for several hours.

Volunteer Rita Brun said she came down after she heard about the sighting on the radio because she's an animal lover.

"That's about it," she said. "I just want to help."

Ken Radke, who was searching on his bicycle, also heard about the animal's disappearance on the radio. At one point, he called Wendell's name and heard a crackling the woods, but it turned out to be a deer. Nevertheless, he was in good spirits and said the search was "kinda fun."

One person even brought a dog in the hopes that it could help track the wallaby.

Wendell weighs about 20 kilograms and is a metre high. He was born in captivity and hand-raised by the Saunders in an artificial pouch.