{"id":817331,"date":"2026-10-29T07:08:20","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T07:08:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/817331\/"},"modified":"2026-10-29T07:08:20","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T07:08:20","slug":"council-issues-statement-after-wallaby-spotted-near-perth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/817331\/","title":{"rendered":"Council issues statement after wallaby spotted near Perth"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n  The marsupial \u2013 native to Australia \u2013 was spotted on the Glascorrie Road near Crieff and there was a fear it might have lost its bearings somewhat and hopped off towards the wrong Perth.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  It is the latest in several sightings in the Crieff area over the years and nearby Perthshire Zoo at Auchingarrich \u2013 which has its own wallabies \u2013 has insisted they have not had any escapees.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Perth and Kinross Council said it had been contacted by a number of concerned residents last Thursday who had spotted wallabies near Crieff.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  READ MORE: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thenational.scot\/news\/26674732.storm-boelo-leaves-trail-destruction-across-scotland----see-10-pictures\/?ref=ed_latest\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Storm Boelo leaves trail of destruction across Scotland \u2014 see 10 pictures<\/a>\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  The council was also quick to clarify it was not April Fool\u2019s Day.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  In a somewhat unusual Facebook post last Friday, the council said: \u201cThanks to everyone who notified us of the wallabies spotted near Crieff on Thursday.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  \u201cWe understand they are part of a wild population in Scotland. Sightings can be reported to tracking websites such as <a href=\"http:\/\/iRecord.org.uk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">iRecord.org.uk<\/a> or <a href=\"http:\/\/iNaturalist.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">iNaturalist.org<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/l.facebook.com\/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2FiNaturalist.org%2F%3Ffbclid%3DIwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAcGRvZgFzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEetxef7xC2uvSPqoFapNKkQqO9JWXDvccxzy5XZjPXnXjilmWmH222hom9yJ4_aem_iCkoqh5HLpYJaiqetZ3AgA&amp;h=AUDD4R9osF2kFcKb50E9bbGWdtlnikttfrF-9YUjW8bBjn1f-l7vIN9LO8KvomqoCDJZMg9GtMrfgsD3j1Nu9tfufiUE-J36uLQG51ifXYHTT3LI3pCDO-sAQVi-_8ts2vCI5zVdsf_W6UJy&amp;__tn__=-UK-R&amp;c%5B0%5D=AUD9fMiiCU4Cq2wyNIYQ5ghG0wrfgcmU9yYQNb1DbRpliqwGcmmDWlKQM1VLCErAQzuHt5VDRHG3CT5hXRjQkBf1qhQFxb77yZk4OGO7M0aljKZvnrAlZPzGDDw8NkxZhcdDz_UbweOS1eJPtUIhaWsqXr6bD1LSkGMHRfjGyZJ0SCnFByolvtPJqUH9UvM\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" class=\"x1i10hfl xjbqb8w x1ejq31n x18oe1m7 x1sy0etr xstzfhl x972fbf x10w94by x1qhh985 x14e42zd x9f619 x1ypdohk xt0psk2 x3ct3a4 xdj266r x14z9mp xat24cr x1lziwak xexx8yu xyri2b x18d9i69 x1c1uobl x16tdsg8 x1hl2dhg xggy1nq x1a2a7pz xkrqix3 x1sur9pj x1fey0fg x1s688f\">.<\/a>\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  \u201cAnd before anyone checks the calendar, yes, it really is 23 October, not 1 April.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Several people suggested they might have escaped from the nearby wildlife park, now known as Perthshire Zoo.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  However, Perthshire Zoo said their wallabies were all safe and sound but did express concern that nearly all the local sightings had been of a lone wallaby and appealed for help.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  A statement issued by Perthshire Zoo said: \u201cThere\u2019s been lots of chat about wallaby sightings in Perthshire recently \u2014 how exciting!\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  \u201cWe want to clear one thing up first: our wallabies are all safe and sound at Perthshire Zoo \u2014 we\u2019ve never had a wallaby escape. These beautiful creatures appear to be part of a wild population that\u2019s lived in the wider area for many years.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  \u201cHere\u2019s what IS worrying us though\u2026 nearly every sighting is just one single wallaby on its own. Wallabies are incredibly social \u2014 they live in mobs, they groom each other, they play, they keep each other safe. A lone wallaby is a concern.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  The zoo has asked anyone who spots a wallaby in the area to let them know.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Perthshire Zoo added: \u201cPlease don\u2019t disturb them or go looking for them. If you are driving, remain in your car.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  \u201cWe\u2019re collating sightings alongside local experts to get a better picture of how they\u2019re doing. <a href=\"https:\/\/form.jotform.com\/262967155280060\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">https:\/\/form.jotform.com\/262967155280060<\/a>\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  \u201cAnd if you\u2019d like to meet our own fabulous, happy mob \u2014 they\u2019re waiting for you at Perthshire Zoo!\u201d\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Scotland does famously have its own wild colony of wallabies. The Countess of Arran introduced red-necked wallabies to the island of Inchconnachan in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thenational.scot\/topics\/loch-lomond\/?ref=au\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Loch Lomond<\/a> in the 1940s.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  The Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals would advise anyone who might come across a wallaby in the area \u201cto either contact <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thenational.scot\/topics\/police-scotland\/?ref=au\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Police Scotland<\/a>, if it\u2019s potentially posing a traffic problem, or contact the nearby wildlife park\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The marsupial \u2013 native to Australia \u2013 was spotted on the Glascorrie Road near Crieff and there was&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":817332,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[90,56,54,55,4407],"class_list":["post-817331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-science","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/817331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=817331"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/817331\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/817332"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=817331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=817331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=817331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}