Wild Marsupials in the UK

Wild Marsupials in the UK
10-09-2008

Hi all,

For many years now I have heard that there are wild wallabies living in the UK but have never come across any real evidence. I have heard all sorts of stories but there are all of the type 'well a friend of mine knows someone who knows someone....' I know occasionally the BBC or local news will feature a story about a wallaby being sighted but I'm talking about a proper mob.

Does anyone have any idea if there really are wallabies living wild or is it an urban myth? if they do live wild do you know where I can find documented proof?

Any knowledge would be gratefully received.

Cheers
Rob

10-09-2008

hey, chieflx.

Some wallabies used to live in an area close to where I live.

Wallabies on the Roches in the Staffordshire Moorlands

I guess the population has become extinct by now though.

EDIT: just found another link

http://www.roaches.org.uk/wallabies.htm

10-09-2008

Many thanks, I might just have to pop up there (I'm London based) and see if any are still around

10-09-2008

One I've heard is of Red-necked wallabies in South West Scotland.
Investigating further (a quick google did it,) suggests that this population was deliberately introduced in the 70s, and are sort of confined, as they live on a big island in the middle of loch lomond, but may escape when the loch freezes. As CZJimmy mentions, there are/were populations more free-roaming this, though I'd expect mostly diminishing ones.

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Chris

10-09-2008

you can't have been looking very hard if you can't find any evidence of wallabies in the UK. Their distribution and origins have been very well documented over the years. The best-known ones are from the Peak District, the population of which started when five wallabies escaped from the private collection of Henry Courtney Brocklehurst near Leek in 1939 or 1940 (as did a single yak which survived wild until about 1951). By 1947 their numbers were estimated to be between 40 and 50.
The initial number of fifty given in CZJimmy's first link (as quoted below) is wrong:
The comment in the second link about the wallabies being "released" is also wrong. During the war it was no longer possible to maintain the zoo's fences and the wallabies simply made their own way to freedom.

Another colony was/is established in north-central Sussex, presumably from Leonardslee Park to which wallabies had been introduced around 1908.

Neither colony have spread far from their original starting points, probably due to unsuitable habitat, shooting, predation, etc. The numbers tend to decline in hard winters and both the above populations may have died out recently (in the last couple of years).

You might find this site interesting -- it has many of the introduced species in the UK and where they can be found. Go searching! Home Page - Introduced species in the UK
There is a better site for UK introduced species but I can't remember the address....

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nod if you can read this

11-09-2008

You are quite correct that the Peak district population of Red-necks is considered extinct. However from time to time there is the odd report of wallabies being found and even as road-kill. They are probably all as a result of private keepers losing the odd animal. Red-necks are not DWA, so they are relatively easy to keep.

11-09-2008

there's also a wild population of grey kangaroos in France if you want to pop across the Channel for a search
http://www.zoobeat.com/113/wild-kangaroos-france-8827/

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nod if you can read this

12-09-2008

here is a better site for introduced animals in UK (and Europe): European Exotics - Non native species in Europe and further afield

and a couple of threads from birdforum on the flamingoes that breed around the German/Dutch border:
Visiting Germanys only wild Flamingo colony - BirdForum
Flamingo's Germany/Holland - BirdForum

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nod if you can read this

14-09-2008

At Welsh Mountain Zoo in 2005 I saw an aesculapian snake in the weaver aviary. The birds were very agitated.

14-09-2008

Thats because there is a small population of them living wild in the zoo,they have been there since the late 1960s and are now been monitored to see what impact they are having on the local area and wildlife.

14-09-2008

shouldn't that be 'hop' across the Channel.....

15-09-2008

I had heard of this species having a feral population, but understood that it was no longer surviving. I guess that my source was wrong... Have they ever spread far from the zoo's grounds?

15-09-2008

Not that i`m aware of they are still only found within the zoo.