Norman Day
New Member
I just saw a wallaby on Studham Lane coming out of Dagnall - is anyone looking for it? Escaped from Whipsnade I assume…
Escaped Wallaby
- Thread starter Norman Day
- Start date
Wisp O' Mist
Well-Known Member
Maybe you should call the police?
Lafone
Well-Known Member
I’d give the zoo a call with the location (it’s at the foot of the big hill which wallabies and goats do have access to) and also report it to the Police.
Lafone
Well-Known Member
In the spirit of helpfulness and as the zoo was shut I gave Beds police a call (non emergency so no one’s time was taken up) - apparently they get reports of wallabies outside and around there quite a lot and they will go and take a drive around if someone was in the area but it’s a known ‘outside’ thing. Who knew.
cerperal
Well-Known Member
I suppose it could potentially be part of a feral population in the area, seems oddly convenient to be near a zoo where they free roam though.
I still see them quite often at RAF Odiham in Hampshire. I'm not entirely sure why they'd choose to live under the flightpath of a load of Chinooks but apparently they don't seem to mind
Lafone
Well-Known Member
I guess if they are feral we know where they came from!
There have been Tasmanian Red-necked wallabies wild in the Bedford area since the 1950s. The then Duke of Bedford released several during that period. (He also released several bird species, but few survived for long.) Many sightings have been made over the years.
ZooNews2024
Well-Known Member
The zoo will have already reported it to the local authority, as this is a zoo licence requirement to do so, for any animal which escapes outside the zoo grounds.
If there is a breach in the perimeter fence (which presumably there must be?) then a zoo licence investigation might be called - and the zoos BALAI status, needed for all international animal movements, could be revoked.
ZooNews2024
Well-Known Member
Are you saying there is a self-sustaining population in Bedfordshire? - as I have never heard of one. Animals released in the 1950s could hardly be living 80 years later! The sightings since are likely to be sporadic escapes, and almost all such are eventually killed by cars.
They certainly do breed in the UK, in 2020 there were 95 verified sightings including joeys in pouch so definitely breeding. I used to spend time around Milton Keynes and many people there had spotted them, including a white one for some time.
Wild wallabies sightings are growing in the UK. Here’s exactly where | BBC Science Focus Magazine
ZooNews2024
Well-Known Member
Why do 'joeys in the pouch' - mean definitely breeding?
They carry the young for ages, so could have easily escaped pouch 'pregnant'.
If they were commonly breeding, then surely they would have ended up on the invasive species list? It only takes whiff, for the Government to try to ban something this way - just look at the Coati fiasco, for example...
Two notes, firstly they are considered invasive, there’s more info on the Wikipedia - Red-necked wallaby - Wikipedia
Secondly, coatis wasn’t the UK. It was an EU plan based on animals that had become invasive in different countries who were members, coatis became naturalised in Majorca and so were added to the list. We could change that if we wanted but there’s no movement to really.
ZooNews2024
Well-Known Member
Two things:
1 - I never said they weren't invasive, I said they weren't on the Government's invasive species lists.
2 - Coatis most certainly were added partly due to the animals living in the UK as well. Both populations do/did not meet the criteria needed for inclusion. The UK population has died out, and the Majorca population is dependent on feeding by tourists, so is not actually self-supporting or 'naturalised', and so does not comply. The inclusion of Coatis was illegal in the first place, and should be challenged, but it appears to suit the powers that be to keep the species banned - for the moment at any rate.
If you are saying that Bennett's Wallabies ARE self-supporting, then they do meet the criteria for inclusion, just as do other species not listed such as the domestic cat.
Not only was the addition of coatis partially due to an invasive and breeding population in the UK (which died out during the extremely harsh winter of 2009/2010 or thereabouts), but my "lifetick" for the species was actually one of the animals in question
There are colonies of wallabies in several places in the UK that have been self sustaining for many generations. Some colonies have died off over time, but some still exist. Some are on islands in Ireland and Scotland so don't spread far. They might be invasive but there doesn't seem to be any migration or pest problems, so they seem to be largely tolerated.
Lafone
Well-Known Member
Not only was the addition of coatis partially due to an invasive and breeding population in the UK (which died out during the extremely harsh winter of 2009/2010 or thereabouts), but my "lifetick" for the species was actually one of the animals in question
That’s a very cool lifetick - not likely to see that in the U.K. again!
Read the papers, it was very clear on why certain animals were included. It was animals that had become problematic in certain areas.
There’s many animals in the UK and elsewhere who were invasive and not on the list because the list was very specific in its aims.
ZooNews2024
Well-Known Member
Yes I have 'read the papers' and more. The lists were not specific and not limited to those 'animals that had become problematic'. There appears to be more to this legislation than you are aware of.
Just to add to my comment earlier, mainland populations mainly in Cornwall and the Chilterns (makes sense as the weather more temperate).
Peak District population now believed extinct. Scottish island population still extant and Isle of Man population at over 1700!
Peak District population now believed extinct. Scottish island population still extant and Isle of Man population at over 1700!
There WAS a VERY specific list of banned animals as invasive species that included both Ring-tailed Coati and Raccoons because of problems that occurred in the EU. This affected zoos as they were told not to breed any of the listed species. The list did not just include mammals. It has been some years since I last saw the thread that covered it.