Plea to halt cull of Loch Lomond wallabies

Jun 12 2009 by Marc McLean, Lennox Herald (main ed)

AN ANIMAL rights group is pleading with the authorities not to kill dozens of wallabies living on a Loch Lomond island.

Animal Concern is urging Luss Estates and the National Park Authority to consider ways of halting breeding rates of the furry animals on Inchconnachan Island – or even rehome them elsewhere.

John Robins, of Animal Concern, was furious to learn that up to 60 wallabies – which are native to Australia – could be culled because they are now seen as a threat to rare native species on the island.

He said: “The wallabies have been on Inchconnachan for almost 70 years and any damage to local wildlife would already have been done.

“An option would be to look at using contraceptive darts to reduce the numbers, or possibly rehoming them elsewhere.

“As it’s not a situation that’s extremely urgent, I would hope that the authorities take their time and find the most humane way of dealing with this situation.

“I’m going to be writing to the authorities asking them to forget the idea of a cull and to look at other ways of reducing the numbers.

“Morally, I don’t think we have the right to just kill them. It’s a human-created problem so I don’t see why they should suffer because of that.”

Lady Arran Colquhoun introduced the animals to Inchconnachan in the 1940s and it has been nicknamed ‘Wallaby Island’ since.

Up to 60 wallabies roam wild on Inchconnachan at the moment and the herbivores have been feeding on most types of plants.

However, they have been munching all the vegetation that rare protected species live on and Luss Estates, which manages Inchconnachan, is desperate to protect the low numbers of Scottish species.

Iain Sheves, factor for Luss Estates, insists that protecting the rare species is a priority but that they would consult with animal rights’ groups if they had to clear the wallabies off the island.

He said: “No decision has been made because a lot of research and surveys have still to be carried out.

“I don’t know enough about the use of contraceptive darts, so it might be that that’s a good way to control the population. But it may also be years before it takes effect. We will speak to animal rights people to take their advice.”

Meanwhile, national park bosses are in favour of ridding the island of wallabies.

A spokeswoman for the authority said: “Whilst the National Park Authority recognises that wallabies can be of novel interest to visitors, our role is to promote, conserve and enhance Scotland’s native species for the future.

“Wallabies are a non native species that don’t belong on this internationally important nature conservation site.

“In this protected and iconic part of Scotland, Luss Estates is working to produce a conservation management plan for Luss Islands that will look closely at how best to manage conservation of native wildlife and habitats.

“We, along with the Deer Commission and Scottish Natural Heritage, will help advise on this plan.”

The spokeswoman added that there are concerns about how much vegetation the wallabies are eating and the effect it’s having on Inchconnachan.

She said: “They can eat young tree saplings and this influences the regeneration of the woodlands on the islands. Other factors include browsing by deer, bracken cover and recreational impacts.

“All these factors are being looked into and the park authority will work with Luss Estates to help identify sensible management prescriptions that support the conservation of the native wildlife.

“It is expected that a package of measures including the control of wallabies that inhabit one of the islands, deer management and bracken control, will form part of the Luss Islands management plan’s objectives.”