The latest new arrivals to the Shetland Islands have proven to have a real spring in their step.
Two young wallabies – named Ned and Kelly after the famous Australian outlaw – have been brought to the far north islands by Tasmanian native Dave Kok.
The care worker said he wanted to tap into life back home by bringing the animals from North Yorkshire to his home in Burra.
He said: “I’ve always wanted to have wallabies here in Shetland. I’m not getting home much and I miss home – the sights and sounds and the animals and all that.
“I think that they’ll do really well with the Shetland climate and it’s just been a bit of a passion for years now.”
He keeps the marsupials next to The Outpost, a small cabin which he opens to locals and tourists on a semi-regular basis.
It is filled with Australian memorabilia alongside home brewed beer and cider.
Dave also has goats and pigs which visitors can feed when they drop by at the rural stop-off.
He added: “[The wallabies have] added to the carry-on we’ve got here I guess with the other animals.
“Folk that come around are fairly interested in them. It’s good for the kids, it’s even good for the adults who have never seen anything like that before.”
Local Struan Haswell helped Dave to create Ned and Kelly’s habitat in addition to looking after them.
And it might not stop there, with the wallabies potentially in line to have babies, while Dave is keen on adding to his mini wildlife park by bringing emus, cockatoos and sugar gliders to Shetland too.
Wallabies are members of the kangaroo clan found primarily in Australia and on nearby islands.
All wallabies are marsupials, or pouched mammals, and like their larger kangaroo cousins their young are called joeys.