Last week a video was posted on social media showing a marsupial hopping along the side of Whare Flat Rd, near the bottom of Three Mile Hill, before disappearing into the bush.
The animals are considered a pest in New Zealand and sightings in Dunedin are rare.
Regional council environmental monitoring and operations director Scott MacLean said staff investigated as soon they were made aware of the sighting, but were unable to locate signs of a wallaby at the location described.
Multiple sites were inspected, he said.
''We rely on members of the public contacting us if they spot any wallabies and we greatly appreciate any and all community involvement to assist us in our management of these pests.''
Maniototo Pest Management manager Ossie Brown said he was not surprised the council struggled to find them.
His company is involved with hunting them in the Maniototo.
''In low numbers they just do your head in. Usually the principles of pest destruction are, as long as you know where they are and what numbers they are in, you will always win.
''With a wallaby, he'll just hide on you. He'll let you step right on top of him.''
In high numbers they were very easy to find, but in low numbers were ''invisible'' due to the way they hid in tussock and forests, he said.
''They're like a needle in a haystack.
Both his company and the regional council used ''thermal imaging'' to hunt the pests.
''It's brilliant stuff. It's very effective.
''You still need to know roughly where they are for it to be any good to you.''
Council staff tracking wallaby were good at what they did, he said.
