Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Yorkshire wildlife park fears missing wallaby 'may have been stolen'

Marsupial disappeared this week just hours after arriving at Filey Bird Garden and Animal Park

Tom Barnes
Wednesday 22 August 2018 23:11 BST
Comments
The wallaby was at the wildlife park for a matter of hours before it disappeared
The wallaby was at the wildlife park for a matter of hours before it disappeared (PA)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

A wallaby who went missing hours after it arrived at a wildlife park may have been stolen, according to staff at the family run attraction.

The two-foot tall male marsupial arrived at the Filey Bird Garden and Animal Park near Scarborough on Monday, where it was placed in a “wallaby-proof” enclosure, complete with a six-foot high fence.

Animal manager Chris Holah said the animal disappeared some time between 7.30pm on Monday and 7am on Tuesday.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the family-run attraction said: “Thanks to everyone for their support. Unfortunately the wallaby is still missing. We have many messages suggesting it may have been stolen. As it went missing in the night we can't totally rule it out.”

Staff said there had been two potential sightings of the animal - one near Gristhorpe Roundabout, about half a mile to the north, and one at the top of Folkton Brow, roughly two miles to the south.

“We are still hoping to see him safely returned.” The park added. “Obviously we have had many messages and are unable to respond to them all, but the thoughts are appreciated.”

The animal was one of two male Bennett's wallabies who arrived at the park. His stay was so short he had yet to be named and keepers were in the early stages of planning a competition to name the new pair.

Mr Holah said the attraction had spent a lot of money on a specialist enclosure, which they were assured by experts was wallaby-proof.

He added that the wallaby posed no threat to people and would probably be difficult to spot as he was likely to hide and was well camouflaged.

Additional reporting by Press Association

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in