A LARGE number of wallabies are surviving and breeding wild in The Curraghs at Ballaugh - all down to a pair which escaped from the Wildlife Park some years ago.
An estimated 100 wallabies are believed to be living in the damp, swamp-like Curraghs, living a private life away from the wildlife park and their successful breeding is attracting interest from wildlife experts.
The wallabies featured in the latest episode of BBC Springwatch made by film-maker Gordon Buchanan who spent several days in The Curraghs earlier this spring tracking the shy antipodean inhabitants.
They have lived in the wild on the Island since a pair escaped from a wildlife park some years ago.
The red-necked wallabies are the only marsupials known to be at large in good numbers in parts of the British countryside, although it is known that other breeds of wallaby have been spotted around the UK and have been living in the wild since the 1950s, possibly earlier.
Sightings have been reported all over Britain, all as the result of escaping from wildlife parks. These include the Peak District in Derbyshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Northants and Cornwall and they have been spotted living wild in the Loch Lomond area of Scotland, having escaped from a local wildlife park.
Wallabies are not believed to be a threat to the Manx habitat as their diet is mainly grass and bracken and they are very shy, so the contents of a garden vegetable patch are also likely to be safe.
They are found naturally only in Australia or Papua New Guinea.
BBC reporter Gordon Buchanan said that the environment in The Curraghs is similar to that in Tasmania. But he found the Manx version difficult to trace. “You get a fleeting glimpse and then they've gone through the trees.”
He finally used evidence of wallaby pathways and signs of feeding to record his Manx wallaby on camera and found that they were most active around dawn and dusk.
It was on an early morning outing in a field on the outskirts of the curraghs that Buchanan finally captured the Manx wallabies for his documentary.
In his report just before the sighting he said, “I have to say I'm not overly confident. I can't imagine a wallaby hopping over a fence and grazing in somewhere like the Isle of Man - maybe that's where I'm having difficulties thinking this is going to happen.”
Eventually, Buchanan spotted a wallaby quietly feeding amongst some gorse bushes, before it comes out into the open and he finally had the proof he needed.
"Folks - it's official - there are wallabies living in swamps in the Isle of Man."
