I visited UK and came face-to-face with rare animal only ever seen 9,000 miles away
Ashley Weiss, from Colorado, USA, was camping with her husband George, from Dundee, when the pair made a very unusual wildlife discovery.
Scotland: Wild wallabies spotted on Loch Lomond island
A lucky couple have had a rare encounter with wild wallabies living on an island in a Scottish loch. Ashley Weiss, from Colorado, USA, and her husband George, from Dundee, were hopping with excitement when they made the amazing sightings at the end of last month.
The couple had been exploring Inchconnachan Island in Loch Lomond, which is famous for being home to an elusive population of Australian marsupials.
Despite being a relatively small island, thick woodland and boggy terrain mean seeing the three-foot-tall animals is actually very rare.
But as these photographs and video show, Ashley and George were treated to an incredible view of the kangaroo-like creatures in a patch of woodland.
The red-necked wallabies arrived on the island in the 1940s when they were introduced by Fiona Gore, the Countess of Arran.
The 103-acre island in the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park is still home to a wild population today. Ashley said she and her husband made sure to walk very quietly and it took around 15 to 30 minutes before they saw their first wallaby.
Ashley said: “My husband and I were looking for them both times, and we had to walk very quietly and go off the path into the more heavily forested areas to see them.
“We tracked one of the wallaby's movements for around 20 minutes from a distance, and that's how we got some of these amazing photos.
“It was strange but lovely to see these animals in Scotland. It felt like seeing a mythical or magical creature of some kind.
“We felt extremely lucky whenever we did see one, it was really special. It was especially rewarding after searching a few times throughout the two days that we were camping on the island.”
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Ashley said people who had seen her photos have loved seeing the Australian animals that have made a home on the edge of the Highlands.
She added: “Friends and family of ours are also loving seeing these pictures and hearing the story of the wallabies and how they got there. These little guys seem to garner a lot of love and excitement.
“It's hard to say exactly how many we saw in total, as some of these photos were taken at different times.During the first search, we estimated that there were about two or three wallabies, but it was hard to tell because they were moving in and out of the ferns in different areas.
“My husband and I are delighted to share the beauty of this island and the wonder of these amazing creatures.
“We would just like to kindly suggest that anyone coming to the island to look for them be respectful to their environment and to the animals themselves. We hope these pictures bring joy to many people.”
