Wallabies are present in the UK after escaping from private collections and zoos.
Can wild wallabies be found in the UK? Yes! Why? It’s thought the populations stem mainly from animals escaped from zoos and private collections. In 2020, researchers from University College Dublin and the University of South Wales mapped 95 confirmed wallaby sightings in a study published in Ecology & Evolution.
Where are the wallabies? Well, the sightings, recorded between 2008-2018, were mainly in the south of England and included two females with joeys in their pouches, suggesting wild breeding. When asked in May, one of the study’s authors, Dr Anthony Caravaggi, told BBC Science Focus he had received 10 reports of wallaby sightings already in 2023 and was looking to fund a fresh study on them.
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Asked by: Marion Thomas, via email
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