Wallaby missing after being spooked by firework display

A wallaby has gone missing from a local farm after being spooked by fireworks, its owner has said.

Simon Harding said the male parma wallaby escaped from its enclosure at Glastonbury Egg Company and Hybrid Hens on 13 September, as the Glastonbury Tor Fair was ongoing in Herbies Field nearby.

He said he was “not confident” it will be found, adding: “We’ve had a drone up and we’ve had no sightings.”

The BBC has contacted Glastonbury Town Council, which runs the fair, for a comment.

Mr Harding said in a Facebook post: “The silent fireworks weren’t so silent after all. I gave him [the wallaby] a few days to see if he was around but I have had no sign of him.”

Speaking to the BBC he added: “It could just keep going and going. The problem is, we’re on the Somerset levels, so we’ve got streams, we’ve got streams with reeds in.

“If it’s in a stream it’s going to drown.”

Mr Harding described the wallaby, which is two years old and does not have a name, as about the size of a cat.

The Glastonbury Tor Charter Fair advertised the fireworks, which were held between 20:00 and 21:00 BST, as “noise reduced”.

Parma wallaby’s are native to Eastern Australia and according to the Australian Museum, can grow to be about 50cm tall.

They are nocturnal and spend the days resting in dense vegetation before emerging in the evenings, feeding on grasses and herbs.

They are grey-brown in colour, with a white throat and chest.

Mr Harding urged anyone who thinks they have seen the wallaby to please get in touch.

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