Why are we collecting wallaby records in the UK?
Red-necked wallabies are native to south-east Australia, including Tasmania. They are popular and charismatic animals and so are often kept in both public and private zoological collections. Changes to legislation regulating private collections around the time of the second world war meant that many animals were released into the countryside. Others escaped from their enclosures. As a result there have been a number of small populations recorded in the UK since the mid-1900s. The most famous of these was a comparatively large population in the Peak District which was studied for many years by the acclaimed zoologist, Derek Yalden.
The state of the UK's wallaby population is unknown. The Peak District animals appeared to die out, though occasional reports suggest that some may remain. Other reports filter in from time-to-time, though these are almost always of individual animals.
Why build a map? To find out where wallabies are, or may be, in the UK; we're curious as to their present-day distribution. If a population centre is identified, perhaps we can study it as has been done on the Isle of Man and, previously, the Peak District. Perhaps the occurrence data can be studied in other ways. Even if we only get a few records (all of which will be submitted to national archives), we're adding to existing data on mammals in the UK.
Please submit any sightings (giving as accurate a location as possible), news reports, photos, other media, etc. so that we can build a map and find out how UK wallabies are doing.
UK Wallaby Sightings is also on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ukwallabies/
The state of the UK's wallaby population is unknown. The Peak District animals appeared to die out, though occasional reports suggest that some may remain. Other reports filter in from time-to-time, though these are almost always of individual animals.
Why build a map? To find out where wallabies are, or may be, in the UK; we're curious as to their present-day distribution. If a population centre is identified, perhaps we can study it as has been done on the Isle of Man and, previously, the Peak District. Perhaps the occurrence data can be studied in other ways. Even if we only get a few records (all of which will be submitted to national archives), we're adding to existing data on mammals in the UK.
Please submit any sightings (giving as accurate a location as possible), news reports, photos, other media, etc. so that we can build a map and find out how UK wallabies are doing.
UK Wallaby Sightings is also on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ukwallabies/