Meet the mysterious animal lurking in the Sussex countryside

Walking through the Sussex countryside, one might expect to come across a herd of Roe deer, foxes or even badgers, but many don't know they could bump into an Australian mammal rarely associated with the British Isles.

It is the wallaby, and over the years there have been a number of sightings across the county with populations of the mysterious marsupial reported near Horsham and Hailsham.

The Kangaroo's relative is elusive and sightings are hard to come by but, on occasion, lucky ramblers and photographers have come across the hopping animal.

Population figures in the wild across Sussex are unknown while others live in enclosures.

Most notably, they have lived on the estate of Leonardslee Gardens in Lower Beeding near Horsham since 1889 when they were introduced the Sir Edmund Loder who owned the estate at the time.

The wallabies that live there now are descendants of the original herd believed to have been bought over from Tasmania, a spokesperson for Leonardslee Gardens said.

Speaking to Sussex World, Holly English, zoologist at University College Dublin confirmed there are populations but said they are hard to pin down.

"We can't say a whole lot about definite populations — there is very little information on it. No one's out there looking for them."

With few people coming forward to report sightings across the country, Holly and her team used reports from a number of local newspapers.

Reports included a sighting in Horsham in 2017 and another in Ashdown Forest.

Holly said the animals were once popular in private collections but at the outbreak of the Second World War, keeping exotic animals became less of a priority for landowners and, one way or another, they made their way into the wild.

"Some times they didn't necessarily set them free but they just weren't maintaining fences — and they are not bad escape artists."

"We looked between 2008 and 2018 and found [reported sightings] in total across Britain and two of those were in Sussex.

"People thought they were a freak occurrence but there are a lot more than people expect.

"When we got that paper published there were a lot of people that got in touch."

Many people had held back from announcing they had spotted a wallaby fearing they had 'gone mad'.

Wallabies survive well in Britain's often cold and rainy climate and enjoy a diet of grass and other plants. "They are hardier than people think they are," Holly said, "a lot of them are from Tasmania and Australia and in Tasmania the weather can be similar to here."

While they can be an invasive species, Sussex farmers need not worry about them while population numbers are so low.

Have you ever spotted one? Get in touch: [email protected]

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