Artistic differences? Water buffalo escape Sydney film set and charge down busy street

Escaped buffalo made a break for it during filming for an advert

(Reuters )

Two water buffalo wreaked havoc on Tuesday morning after escaping from a film set and running into a suburb in Sydney.

The animals sent drivers swerving out of the way as they headed two kilometres down a city street after escaping from a park where an advertisement was being filmed.

The buffalo continued their journey until they reached the University of Sydney campus, where students were greeted with the sight of a cowboy brandishing a lasso and two agitated animals.

Firefighters eventually managed to round up the animals and live-tweeted the operation, saying they used ladders and firefighting gear to corral the buffalo into a makeshift pen, until handlers from the film set took them away.

By lunchtime, the buffalo even had their own Twitter handle - @NewtownBuffalo, with over 170 followers.

Abril Felman, a student at the university said she was waiting for a bus when "two random buffalo" ran past.

"We were all standing back, we were all going 'that's really random'," Ms Felman said.

But student Rachel Murdolo seemed less surprised by their appearance in the area. "It was kind of bizarre but it was Newtown so I didn't think it was that unusual,' she told The Sydney Morning Herald.

Additional reporting by Reuters