Have you seen this WALLABY? Mysterious marsupials seen roaming rural Nottinghamshire spark appeal from experts amid suggestions they could be living in the wild

Brits have been urged to report any wallaby sightings after the marsupial was seen a number of times in Nottinghamshire over the summer.

Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust has concluded the range of the reports makes them unlikely to be down to escapes alone, suggesting they are ‘surviving well’.

It is asking the public to report any sightings of the kangaroo-like creatures, native to Australasia and New Guinea, to determine whether groups of them are living together in the wild.

In August, golfers spotted a wallaby at a course near Southwell, Nottinghamshire, five miles away from where one was seen in Claverton a month earlier.

Additional sightings have been added to a map released by Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust (NWT), revealing that wallabies were seen over 20 miles apart – or some 12,000 hops.

Additional sightings have been added to a map released by Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust, revealing that wallabies were seen over 20 miles apart – or some 12,000 hops

Attenborough Nature Reserve, managed by the local wildlife trust, said: ‘It’s looking less and less like an isolated recent escape. 

‘The more records that are submitted, the better picture can be built up of their likely presence and spread.’

A spokesperson for NWT said ‘we believe they’re surviving well – we know they’re out there’.

However, there is not yet enough data to prove that there is a thriving, established population of wallabies in the area.

Following the sighting at Oakmere Golf Club in August, the club’s Director of Golf, Daryl St John Jones, said ‘I’ve been here for 28 years, and we’ve never seen anything like a wallaby’.

He told the BBC: ‘My head greenkeeper sent me a photograph after seeing this animal, which looked like a wallaby on the golf course,’ said Mr St John Jones, director of golf at the club.

‘I thought it was a bit strange and that he was winding me up. I went down there and couldn’t see it myself, so I posted a picture on Facebook, and then a member sent in some photographs.

‘It’s just completely unique. It’s a real surprise.’ 

The National Biodiversity Network (NBN) Trust told the BBC that it is working alongside NWT to record sightings of the wallaby. 

People are encouraged to report sightings on the NWT’s Nature Counts page.

Past reports have placed them in Devon, the Peak District, Derbyshire, East Sussex and County Durham with 411 wallabies spotted in the UK, the NBN Trust reported. 

While not native to the UK, the wild marsupials are thought to have survived and bred after breaking loose from zoos.