Strewth! It's an albino wallaby....hopping round the English countryside
by JAMES MILLS
29th May 2007
Daily Mail
Hopping through the undergrowth and munching on grass, this rare albino wallaby looks perfectly at home.
But these incredible pictures were taken near Milton Keynes - a world away from the marsupial's native Australia.
The wallaby appears to be living wild in the English countryside near Olney, Buckinghamshire, where its unusual colour has caught the eye of locals.
Wildlife experts put the odds of an albino wallaby at 100,000-1.
Far from home: the albino wallaby was spotted near Milton Keynes. There are dozens of reported sighting of wallabies throughout the British countryside every year
IT trainer Stacey Purdy first saw the bright white animal while walking her dog.
The 28-year-old saw a pair of pink eyes peeping out of the undergrowth as she strolled through the countryside.
When it hopped fully into view she recognised it as a wallaby as she had recently returned from a trip to Australia where she fed them at a zoo in Queensland.
She managed to capture some photographs and video footage on her digital camera before it skipped away.
'I just saw it pop its head up,' she said yesterday.
'I had fed them at Australia Zoo so I knew what it was but I was thinking how strange it was.'
Miss Purdy said the animal didn't show much concern when she tried to approach it, but it kept hopping away a few yards if she got too close.
'I got within about 10 or 12 feet of it before it bounded off. Up until then it didn't seem bothered about me being there.
'Even when it went off it didn't go too far away. It just carried on munching on the grass.'
A few days later she spotted the rare animal again in the same area.
Miss Purdy has posted her footage on the video clip website YouTube.
Miss Purdy contacted police but last night no-one had reported an albino wallaby missing.
There are known to be several groups of wallabies - which are usually greyish brown in colour - thriving in various locations in rural England, particularly Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Suffolk.
There are dozens of reported sightings each year.
Two years ago, an albino wallaby was photographed by civil servant Paul French, 29, as he drove through woods at Hanslope, near Milton Keynes - about five miles from the latest sighting.
A spokeswoman for nearby Woburn Safari Park said all of its wallabies - including its albinos - were all present and correct.
She said: 'There are quite a few wallabies living in the wild in England having escaped or been released from various places over the years.
'They are quite hardy and can easily survive in out climate.
'But it would be incredible if this albino wallaby has been born in the wild and it will be much more difficult for it to survive.
'It it more likely that it has escaped from somewhere.'
Wallabies can bound along at over 40mph and their diet consists mainly of grass and the shoots of young plants.
They prefer areas of scrubland or open forest with stretches of dry grass and are more likely to be spotted in late afternoon or the evening.
Although there are a number of wild populations in the UK, it is illegal to release them under the terms of the Countryside and Wildlife Act.
dailymail.co.uk
by JAMES MILLS
29th May 2007
Daily Mail
Hopping through the undergrowth and munching on grass, this rare albino wallaby looks perfectly at home.
But these incredible pictures were taken near Milton Keynes - a world away from the marsupial's native Australia.
The wallaby appears to be living wild in the English countryside near Olney, Buckinghamshire, where its unusual colour has caught the eye of locals.
Wildlife experts put the odds of an albino wallaby at 100,000-1.
Far from home: the albino wallaby was spotted near Milton Keynes. There are dozens of reported sighting of wallabies throughout the British countryside every year
IT trainer Stacey Purdy first saw the bright white animal while walking her dog.
The 28-year-old saw a pair of pink eyes peeping out of the undergrowth as she strolled through the countryside.
When it hopped fully into view she recognised it as a wallaby as she had recently returned from a trip to Australia where she fed them at a zoo in Queensland.
She managed to capture some photographs and video footage on her digital camera before it skipped away.
'I just saw it pop its head up,' she said yesterday.
'I had fed them at Australia Zoo so I knew what it was but I was thinking how strange it was.'
Miss Purdy said the animal didn't show much concern when she tried to approach it, but it kept hopping away a few yards if she got too close.
'I got within about 10 or 12 feet of it before it bounded off. Up until then it didn't seem bothered about me being there.
'Even when it went off it didn't go too far away. It just carried on munching on the grass.'
A few days later she spotted the rare animal again in the same area.
Miss Purdy has posted her footage on the video clip website YouTube.
Miss Purdy contacted police but last night no-one had reported an albino wallaby missing.
There are known to be several groups of wallabies - which are usually greyish brown in colour - thriving in various locations in rural England, particularly Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Suffolk.
There are dozens of reported sightings each year.
Two years ago, an albino wallaby was photographed by civil servant Paul French, 29, as he drove through woods at Hanslope, near Milton Keynes - about five miles from the latest sighting.
A spokeswoman for nearby Woburn Safari Park said all of its wallabies - including its albinos - were all present and correct.
She said: 'There are quite a few wallabies living in the wild in England having escaped or been released from various places over the years.
'They are quite hardy and can easily survive in out climate.
'But it would be incredible if this albino wallaby has been born in the wild and it will be much more difficult for it to survive.
'It it more likely that it has escaped from somewhere.'
Wallabies can bound along at over 40mph and their diet consists mainly of grass and the shoots of young plants.
They prefer areas of scrubland or open forest with stretches of dry grass and are more likely to be spotted in late afternoon or the evening.
Although there are a number of wild populations in the UK, it is illegal to release them under the terms of the Countryside and Wildlife Act.
dailymail.co.uk