A 3-year-old wallaby named Rex has been found and returned home after going missing from a South Jersey petting zoo

Rex the wallaby has been found and returned to his home at a petting zoo in Williamstown, Gloucester County, the Lots of Love Farm announced shortly before 10 p.m. Tuesday.

“WELL, IF THIS JUST DIDN’T BECOME THE BEST NIGHT EVER!” the operator of the petting zoo and animal sanctuary posted on Facebook.

“WITH THE HELP OF SOME REALLY COOL KIDS AND A REALLY COOL DAD. WE CAUGHT REX AT THE WALMART!! HE IS HOME SAFE AND SOUND! THANK YOU EVERYONE YOU’RE ALL AMAZING. HE MUST REALLY LIKE WALMART!!!LOL,” the post said.

The Walmart in question is located about a half-mile from Lots of Love Farm, where owner Ron Layden said the agreeable, 3-year-old wallaby had been last seen late Monday afternoon, around feeding time. The animal was secure inside a barn on the property.

“Next thing I know, I was getting phone calls saying, ‘We saw a wallaby in the Walmart parking lot,’” said Layden earlier on Tuesday.

Layden — whose farm includes goats, sheep, peacocks, a camel, “a zebra-donkey mix, [and] a bunch of cows” — said that while he has dealt with the occasional loose animal before, this was his farm’s first wallaby escape.

The escape of the 3-foot, gray-haired marsupial sparked a search that — perhaps not surprisingly — captured the imagination of those in the area..

As word of the wallaby’s escape spread Monday night, messages of concern and support had flooded into the farm’s Facebook page. Some suggested using a drone or scent-tracking dog to help locate the missing animal. At least one offered to form a search party.

Alleged sightings, meanwhile, were shared with growing regularity.

“I just saw a video of him hopping around Williamstown Walmart,” one person posted to Facebook on Tuesday morning.

This sighting seemed to be confirmed in a video posted online. In it, an animal matching Rex’s description could be seen hopping casually around an onlooker’s vehicle in a well-lit parking lot.

“It’s a [expletive] kangaroo!” the amazed onlooker yells in the video.

Another tip — which Layden unsuccessfully investigated — had Rex spotted at a retirement community not far from the farm, which is located at 1828 Corkery Lane in Williamstown.

By later Tuesday, however, there was evidence that Rex — so named because of his purported resemblance to a T-Rex — might’ve wandered even further from home.

“Someone mentioned they just saw him in Sicklerville off of Walnut Street,” read a Facebook message posted Tuesday, of a town some three miles from Williamstown. “[P]rayers you find him!”

Those prayers were answered.