The UK island where wallabies roam free with plans for new holiday lodge to open
JUMP AROUND The UK island where wallabies roam free with plans for new holiday lodge to open
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DID you know there's an island in Scotland where wallabies roam free?
Inchconnachan Island is surrounded by the fresh waters of Loch Lomon and it's unofficial name is Wallaby Island thanks to the animals that live there.
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A colony have been living on the island for 85 years
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It's possible to visit the island by boat, kayak and canoe
Credit: Adobe Stock/Dominic Walter
A colony of red-necked wallabies were first introduced to the island in the 1940s by the Countess of Arran.
It was said that Lady Arran transported the animals from her home in Hertfordshire where she also kept pot-bellied pigs, llamas and alpacas.
The wallabies, which are native to Australia, have survived on the island by eating oak, holly and birch trees.
The number of wallabies on the island is not confirmed, some reports say there are as many as 60 with others as few as 7.
Over the years, in their 85 years on the island, wallabies have adapted to the Scottish climate.
They've even been seen hopping across the frozen loch at certain times of the year.
Visitors can visit Wallaby Island for free, but to get there comes at a cost.
There are no public ferries that head over to the island, so anyone wanting to see the wallabies has to make their own way over.
It's possible to get to the island via private boats, kayaks, paddleboards or canoes from the nearby village of Luss.
Wild camping is permitted on Wallaby Island, as long as campers leave everything the way they found it.
Bizarre Scottish Island mysteriously covered in Gnomes
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There could soon be a holiday home on Wallaby Island
Credit: Flickr/ FionaG999
However, in years to come, there could be a holiday home on the island.
In 2020, Scottish TV and radio presenter Kirsty Young and her husband bought Wallaby Island.
And in January 2025, the pair were granted permission to build a holiday lodge on Wallaby Island.
The plans were met with controversy from the public, with an online petition against the building work gaining over 100,000 signatures.
A spokesperson for the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority said the planning permission "will have no implications for the wallabies on the island."
The plans are to build a holiday lodge which will be for short-stay rentals as well as a new boathouse and a jetty so that guests can get onto the island.
The old timber bungalow once owned by Lady Arran will be demolished.
There will be a new natural wet woodland created during the works, which is to improve the biodiversity of the island.
One man has been island hopping around Scotland, and here are the top five islands that rival Skye.
And the group of islands in Scotland have been named one of the happiest places to live in the UK.
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