Kangaroo adventures in Europe: marsupial populations live in the wild of France

When traveling in France, you least expect to see among the fields and forests of this country a kangaroo - the indigenous people of Australia and neighboring islands. Nevertheless, in France, an hour's drive from Paris, for more than 40 years the Wallabies have lived - the real marsupials. These animals were able to adapt perfectly and become part of the animal world of Western Europe, probably its most exotic part. But how did the kangaroo get to France?

The exact name of the species that settled in the French forests is the reddish-gray wallaby. At home, these cute animals live in the eastern part of the continent, where there are no such long droughts as in the central or western parts of Australia, and also are part of the fauna of the island of Tasmania. They can live both in forests and in flat areas - wherever green juicy food is enough for them.

In France, wallaby can be found in the Rambouillet forest. This forest covers an area of more than 20 thousand hectares and serves as a favorite resting place for the French. There are easy routes for cyclists and hikers, as well as hunting in a special part of the park. Well, those who want to enjoy wild animals have the opportunity to meet roe deer, wild boar and even bison. In addition to the indigenous representatives of the fauna in the Rambouillet forest, you can see exotic animals living in the local nursery. The red-gray wallaby also originally lived in this nursery, but in the 70s of the last century, some of them escaped, causing many curious cases.

Those French who said they saw a kangaroo in the Rambouillet forest quickly fell into the ranks of storytellers, and sometimes they were suspected of drinking too much alcohol. They did not attach much importance to single messages about meetings with the kangaroo and considered them jokes. But everything changed after the wallaby multiplied and began to often go onto the roadway, not particularly observing the rules of the road. Animals jumped under the wheels of cars, causing a traffic accident, but when injured motorists turned to insurance companies, of course, no one believed their stories about the kangaroo. The local administration had to issue accompanying documents to the victims, which confirmed the fact of a meeting with a kangaroo in the vicinity of the forest.

To date, the French Wallaby population totals about 50 individuals. Animals found in the forest plants and fruits suitable for themselves that are used for food. As for predators, here migrants from Australia have no one to fear. The only ones who pose a threat to the kids are the local foxes. But cubs can always hide in a bag to their mother, which the fox can no longer cope with. Wallaby hunting is strictly prohibited, but a number of animals die from encounters with cars. Environmentalists say that they see no threat to the local fauna from the migrant species, and continue to monitor the development of the situation.

Interestingly, the Wallaby is not the only southern aliens who were able to adapt perfectly to life in Europe. Once we already talked about Rhea - large flightless birds from South America, who also fled from the nursery and settled in the wild in Germany. Well, what ended this story, you can read in our previous article.