A wolf is suspected of killing a pet wallaby and injuring another during a night attack in northeastern Belgium, a wildlife specialist told AFP on Wednesday.
The missing wallaby is “probably dead,” eaten “as a Christmas meal” by the wolf, said Jan Loos, director of the Landschap wildlife centre.
The other wallaby was injured, bitten in the ear, but is “in good health,” he said.
The wallabies were in the garden of their owners in the town of Balen when the attack occurred. The owners, whose identity has not been disclosed, called the specialist.
“I discovered wolf footprints, so it is almost certain that it was a wolf, but we are not 100% sure which wolf it is,” the expert said.
Loos suspects that a wolf nicknamed August was behind the attack. The animal was first spotted in 2018 and is known to roam across the border with Germany.
Wallabies, like their close relatives kangaroos, do not usually live in Europe outside zoos.
Colonies of wallabies, which resemble small kangaroos, escaped from a zoological reserve, have lived for decades in an area of the Rambouillet forest, west of Paris.¨
Earlier this month, a kangaroo escaped from its owner’s estate in Untertraubenbach, Germany. It is not the first time such incidents have occurred, The Local reported, as kangaroos are increasingly popular pets in western Europe.
