A wallaby has been sighted hopping through the streets of Liskeard, a market town in Cornwall, months after a similar unexplained appearance on a local industrial estate.
Residents reported seeing the marsupial, native to Australia, jumping along a busy road and in a secondary school playing field. Scott Weller, owner of Original Cornish Pastries, recounted his surprise at encountering the animal while driving to work.
"But then I realised it was hopping and that it was a wallaby on the loose," Weller said, adding that he initially mistook it for a dog. He decided to follow the wallaby out of concern it could be hit by a car. "I just thought, 'Poor thing, he's lost.'"
Weller reported the sighting to police, who attended but did not locate the animal. "We were called to a report of a wallaby seen on Dean Street, Liskeard, shortly before 6am, August 24. Officers carried out an area search but did not locate the animal," a spokesperson for Devon and Cornwall Police confirmed.
This latest sighting follows an earlier incident where a wallaby was seen wandering an industrial estate in Liskeard. That appearance also left locals baffled, particularly after a local zoo confirmed all its wallabies were accounted for, leaving the origin of the animal a mystery.
In August 2024, a wallaby was filmed on the A39 near Newquay. Henry Hallam, who captured the footage, described the animal as appearing unfazed as it hopped along the road. Tragically, a wallaby sighted and filmed on the A39 around the same time was later found dead by the side of the road, having been hit by a car.
Wallaby sightings have been reported in various parts of the British Isles in recent years, including Devon, Scotland, the Chiltern Hills in Oxfordshire, and Nottinghamshire. Experts have suggested that sightings may become more common, with the possibility of red-necked wallabies breeding in the wild in Britain.
These marsupials, also known as Bennett's wallabies, are believed to have been introduced to the UK from Australia in the late 19th or early 20th century by collectors and zookeepers. Conservation biologists note that wallabies are adept escape artists, capable of digging and opening latches, which contributes to their presence in the wild. Historical accounts mention escapes from private zoos and wildlife parks, contributing to established populations in various regions.