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Over 500 Wallabies Call Ballaugh Home
The drone survey, which included thermal imaging, was conducted earlier this year.
A survey by Manx Wildlife Trust has counted over 560 wallabies living within the Ballaugh Curragh.
The drone survey, which included thermal imaging, was conducted earlier this year.
Ben Harrower of BH Wildlife Consultancy was commissioned by the charity to do the survey. Ben was in the Isle of Man from 8-11 January 2023, and although the strong winds prevented them from doing as much surveying as hoped, they did complete an accurate count of the population in the Curragh, which is believed to be the core wallaby area.
The first survey on the night of January 8 counted 563 wallabies detected across the survey area. The second survey on January 9 and 10 counted 572 wallabies.
MWT CEO, Leigh Morris said: ‘Our simple aim from carrying out this survey is to enable the IOM to have more informed discussions about the future management of our Ramsar site. I was with Ben and his wife for the entire time for both counts and we’re 100% confident in the numbers. It was very interesting to watch, and I was personally astounded at the number we counted – there were far more then we were expecting.’
Ben Harrower of BH Wildlife Consultancy said: ‘The results of the survey were really eye opening. The wallaby population at this site is into the several hundreds and they appear to be doing very well in this habitat. It would be interesting to look at the impacts that they are having. I can only compare these numbers to those of muntjac deer in the UK where the deer have been seen to have quite a high impact.’
The MWT has recommended that it would be valuable to know how far wallabies have spread across the island. Given various reports of their appearances, including one famous encounter with a taxi driver in Onchan.
Red-Necked Wallabies escaped into the Ballaugh Curragh in the north of the Isle of Man (IOM) in the 1960s from the Curraghs Wildlife Park.
You can read MWT’s full report here.
Problem
Unfortunately, while many find our marsupial friends to be cute and another little novelty of the island, they are an invasive species and their impact on the wider ecology is still up for debate, with some suggestions protection, others suggesting limiting numbers and some saying the animals should be culled.
After an incident where one of the poor creatures was shot in the head last year, DEFA Minster Clare Barber confirmed they aren’t protected under the Wildlife Act. However, she told Tynwald that like all animals on the island, are protected by the Cruelty to Animals Act.
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