Albino wallaby photographed on Wiltshire country lane

Albino wallabyValerie Hood

The small albino marsupial was spotted "leaping along" Stock Lane, near Aldbourne on Saturday morning

A rare albino wallaby has been spotted bounding along a road in the Wiltshire countryside.

The Australian marsupial was spotted "leaping along" Stock Lane near Marlborough on Saturday morning.

Valerie Hood, who photographed the animal, said: "A white thing was moving along the roadside and we thought: 'That doesn't look like a sheep'."

Albino wallabies are extremely rare and can change hands for hundreds of pounds.

'So whacky'

Ms Hood said she was travelling out of Aldbourne towards Axford when she saw the "tiny kangaroo" on Stock Lane.

"We drew up and it started leaping along and then it stopped and looked at us," she said.

"It crossed the road in front of us, looked around at us and went off into the bushes.

"It seemed so whacky but it was definitely a white wallaby.

"I've asked around to try and find out and was told that somebody in the area of Axford or Ramsbury breeds them but I haven't been able to find out anything more."

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Wiltshire Police said it has had no reports of wallaby-related incidents.

In 2014 an escaped wallaby was caught by officers in a garden in Marlborough. It was thought it escaped from a nearby farm.

Wallabies: Fast Facts

Glen Fergus

  • Wallabies belong to the kangaroo family and are naturally found in Australia and Papua New Guinea

  • In the UK they have been found living in colonies on the Isle of Man and on an island in Loch Lomond, Scotland

  • There have also been occasional, isolated sightings of wallabies in Ashdown Forest, Norfolk, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and the Peak District

  • Worldwide there are 45 species of kangaroos and wallabies

  • They mainly eat grass but some species also consume leaves, herbs, ferns, fruit and flowering plants

Source: The Office of Environment & Heritage in New South Wales and Ordnance Survey

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