Why is there a wallaby jumping down a road in Devon?

Two motorists couldn’t quite believe their eyes when they spotted a wallaby bouncing down a main road in Devon.

The bizarre moment in Crediton was caught on camera after the pair decided to stop the car and film the Australian marsupial.

They sent the footage to documentary filmmaker and wildlife researcher Tim Whittard, who investigates reports of out-of-place animals.

He confirmed it was a red-necked wallaby, a species native to the east coast of Australia and Tasmania.

Tim said: ‘It’s quite a remarkable sighting.

‘The witnesses do not want to be named, but were both completely bemused by the experience – the driver said she had never expected to see a wallaby casually hopping down the road, and thought it was a baby kangaroo at first.’

Tim, however, said he wasn’t at all surprised to learn there was a wallaby hopping around in Devon.

The red-necked wallaby was bouncing along a road in Devon

He added: ‘The presence of red-necked wallabies in the UK has been quite well reported on in recent years, and it is clear we have a small breeding population of them here in Britain.’

It’s believed the wallabies have either escaped from private collections or deliberately released.

Their coat is grey/brown in colour and as their named suggests, they have red fur around their shoulders and neck.

The motorists were ‘completely bemused’ by the sighting (Picture: Tim Whittard/SWNS)

They are very similar in appearance to kangaroos but are much smaller in size.

Tim added: ‘They are said to be solitary animals, and can be crepuscular or nocturnal, so are likely to be more active at dawn and dusk, or during the night, which explains why the animal was seen after dark.’

Another wallaby was spotted casually hopping around Sheffield, Yorkshire in January.

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