Wild west: wild wallabies living near Paris

A colony of Australian wallabies are living near Paris – they are wild wallabies free to roam in the area. Wallabies are not kangaroos, but look like a smaller version of kangaroos. Wallabies are marsupial macropods native to Australia and New Guinea that are smaller and stockier than kangaroos. The species living near Paris are red-necked Bennett’s wallabies from Tasmania, Australia’s southern island state.

In the small village of Emance, about 70 kilometres (40 miles) southwest of Paris, a colony of wild wallabies live in the nearby forest. How did they get there?

The wallabies were originally brought to the village wildlife zoo and housed in a caged space. But they escaped in the 1970s through holes in the fencing. Researchers think there are about 100-150 of them currently living in the forest, which is scrubby and similar to the forests of their homeland Tasmania. So they have made this French forest their new home. They live up to 15 years in the wild and have no natural enemies (predators) due to their size. They are 80 centimetres in height (2.6 feet) and weigh 15 kilograms (30 pounds) and are therefore too big for foxes to prey upon. They are usually road kill – they have about 30-40 collisions with cars each year, killing about half of them.

There is a hunting ban on the wallabies, which also helps keep the colony thriving. In France, people are not permitted to hunt them. Species are listed as game (which can be hunted), pests (which can be killed), protected species (which cannot be killed), or pets (which people are permitted to keep in their homes). The wallabies are not on any list. Hence, legally they can’t be kept or killed. So the west is wild and wild wallabies enjoy living near Paris.

http://www.france24.com/en/20150804-wild-wallabies-roam-villages-west-paris

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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