MORE than 65,000 people have signed a petition to prevent the relocation of a mob of wallabies living on a Loch Lomond island.
The petition was set up after the new owners of Inchconnachan island, Desert Island Discs presenter Kirsty Young (below) and her husband, expressed their intentions to remove the animals, replacing them with indigenous species, and build holiday lets there.
The creatures have been living on uninhabited Inchconnachan since the 1940s, when they were brought from Australia and Papau New Guinea by the Countess of Arran. The 103-acre island had been owned by the Colquhoun family for centuries before its recent £1.6 million sale.
It is now understood that around 60 wallabies live on the island, which is both an Area of Special Scientific Interest and a Special Area of Conservation. It is one of very few places outside Australia with a population of wallabies.
The marsupials survive on the Scottish island by eating a diet of oak, holly and birch.
Over the years there has been controversy over the animals, which calls for them to be culled in order to protect natural wildlife.
On a few occasions visitors to Inchconnachan found wallabies dead after appearing to have been shot. Others have been skinned and left on the beach.
Craig Morrison, who started the petition to the Scottish Government urging the protection of the island’s wallabies, argued: “The wallabies have great historic, social and cultural significance, they are adored by locals and tourists alike, with many boat trips in the area having the chance of seeing the wallabies as their star attraction. Many tourists visit the local area simply to see these wonderful marsupials bringing economic benefits to the area.
“To this end we want the Scottish government to pass legislation which protects both the wallabies and their habitat.”
The Change.org petition is aiming to achieve 75,000 signatures, and has now surged past 65,000.
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