Yes, you read the title right: Wallabies. Brian Jacques pretty much stated British animals only, with a handful of exceptions:
- Wolves - Urgan from The Bellmaker, and wolves are mentioned to be the cousins of foxes in Taggerung (Wolves were native to the British Isles once, but, like beavers, they were overhunted to extinction. Jacques seemingly brought them in after someone said people were reintroducing them to Britain [sadly, that project seems to have failed or never happened])
- Monitor lizards - Pearls of Lutra
- A sea lion - The Legend of Luke
- A golden hamster - Triss
- Jerbilrats - A fictitious species from Loamhedge, but the wiki states they are similar to jerboas (a gerbil relative from the Middle East)
- Wolverines - Rakkety Tam
- A tortoise - Rakkety Tam
- Sables - The Sable Quean
Well, guess what? Wallabies have been introduced to Great Britain.
There are also colonies in England in the Peak District, Derbyshire, and the Ashdown Forest in East Sussex; these were established ca. 1900. There are also other smaller groups frequently spotted in West Sussex and Hampshire.
There is a small colony of red-necked wallabies on the island of Inchconnachan, Loch Lomond in Argyll and Bute, Scotland; this was founded in 1975 with two pairs taken from the Whipsnade Zoo, and had risen to 26 individuals by 1993.
There is a large group of approximately 250 red-necked wallabies living wild on the Isle of Man, which are the descendants of a pair that escaped from a wildlife park on the island in the 1970s, as well as from subsequent escapes.
The Baring family, who owned Lambay Island (250 ha (620 acres)), off the eastern coast of Ireland introduced red-necked wallabies to the island in the 1950s and 1960s. In the 1980s, the red-necked wallaby population at the Dublin Zoo was growing out of control. Unable to find another zoo to take them, and unwilling to euthanize them, zoo director Peter Wilson donated seven individuals to the Barings; the animals have thrived since then and the current population is estimated to be between 30 and 50.
What do you guys think these guys would be like in the Redwall 'verse?
Perhaps in time he might've included a wallaby. :P I think they would be goodbeasts, but perhaps quite shy and keeping to themselves for the most part.
Ooh, what a fascinating concept! :D Considering that foxes aren't exactly the nicest to native Aussie animals, I can certainly see foxes and wallabies being arch enemies in a Redwall story.
I always wondered about how the Wolves and Wolverines would be incorporated into the universe had they been more prominent