Wallaby spotted by shocked dog walkers in Oxfordshire

A father and son could have been forgiven for thinking they'd strolled all the way to Australia when they spotted a wallaby during a dog walk in Oxfordshire.

Gary Priest, 51, and Thomas, 16, were walking though woods in Binfield Heath when they saw the animal looking at them through the trees.

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They took a video, which was uploaded to Facebook, and said they tried to get as close as they could.

Speaking to the Mirror, Gary said: "I once saw another wallaby 32 years ago in Wargrave, but no one believed me when I told them.

"They all thought I'd taken something. Thank goodness for photo and video technology now."

The father and son went for another walk the next day in a bid to spot the wallaby again, and did actually see it for a second time.

According to Get Reading, Gary said: "The odds of spotting a wallaby once are one in a million, the odds of spotting it twice are astronomical.

"I'm 100 per cent sure it was a wallaby. I know what they look like and there is no way it was anything else."

A wallaby is a small or mid-sized macropod found in Australia and New Guinea. They have been introduced to the UK a number of times, with population in the Isle of Man, as well as Devon and East Sussex.

Wallabies are herbivores whose diet consists of a wide range of grasses, vegetables, leaves and other foliage

Although members of most wallaby species are small, some can grow up to approximately two metres in length (from head to end of tail). Their powerful hind legs are not only used for bounding at high speeds and jumping great heights, but also to administer vigorous kicks to fend off potential predators.

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