WALLABIES LIVING WILD IN THE U.K

A Wallaby has been photographed apparently living wild in the gardens of Hampshire in southern England.  There have been five recent sightings reported so far.  This is not as strange as it first appears, as there have been established populations living in this country since the 1940s.  Around 100 are said to live in the wilds of the Isle of Man, after two escaped from a wildlife park on the island years ago.  There are also thought to be a colony of around 60 on the Loch Lomond island of Inchconnachan, after being introduced there by a resident aristocrat in the 1920s.  During the 1940s, a group of Wallabies escaped from Whipsnade Zoo in Bedfordshire, leading to their sporadic distribution across England.

There have been proposed culls for the Inchconnachan population, as some conservationists believe they are having an adverse effect on the existence of Capercaillie on the island.  They are the largest species of grouse and are critically endangered in the U.K for a second time, partly due to the specialised native pinewood habitat they live in which is only a tiny fraction of what it once was.  It is thought they naturally compete for the same food sources as the Wallabies- primarily plant shoots and berries.  However, they have been coexisting for over 60 years without harming the native Capercaillie population.

There have also been sightings reported very close to where I live in the Scottish Borders.  Two Tasmanian Wallabies escaped from a fishery in the area in 2012, swimming off from a pond island on Leadburn Manor, before eventually being captured using a giant net after days on the run.  They can reach speeds of up to 40mph.  They were subsequently placed in a 1000sq metre enclosure on the private estate.

In the Peak District, another population thrived for over twenty years after being released from a private landowner’s menagerie during World War Two, when regulations forced the closure of many zoos.  The five creatures bred in the wild and adapted well to their moorland surroundings.  Soon they numbered at least 50.  However, the extremely severe winter of 1963 wiped out much of the population, as the ground lay covered with snow for over two months.  Their numbers gradually dwindled until the last known individual died in 2009.  They are now presumed extinct in the area, although the occasional sighting is still reported.

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A Capercaillie I photographed in captivity at the Highland Wildlife Park near Kingussie.