Rare Albino Wallaby Seen Hopping Around British Countryside

Wallaby damned!

Caroline Phillips got a rare treat Friday afternoon while riding her horse near in Northhampshire, U.K. -- An albino wallaby hopping around Salcey Forest.

"My friend Florence was riding her stallion in one of our fields when she came back telling me there was a white kangaroo in the field," Phillips, 41, told South West News Service. "Needless to say, I had thought she was obviously mistaken or crazy so I thought I'd humor her and go back with her to see the mysterious creature."

Phillips, 41, was skeptical as wallabies are native to Australia, which is more than 9,000 miles away from where she was riding.

She soon caught a glimpse of a "white thing" in the distance, but thought it was a piece of plastic caught in the hedge.

"We walked toward it and when we got close enough we could see it was an animal of some sort, I still didn't think I was going to find a kangaroo," Phillips said. "Then it hopped away but luckily I was filming. We got quite close to it and stayed in the field watching for at least half-an-hour."

A native of Australia herself, Phillips was shocked to see a wallaby thousands of miles away, even though colonies of the creatures reportedly live in rural areas of the British countryside.

"It was extremely bizarre especially with me being Australian," Phillips said. "We all thought it was very surreal but felt so privileged as well."

As unusual as it is for a wallaby to be seen in Britain, the chances of seeing an albino one are even more remote.

According to a 2005 article by the Missouri Department of Conservation, albinism occurs in mammals about one in 10,000 births.