Balmoral Show: An historic first appearance for kangaroos at Northern Ireland’s annual festival of farming

Richard Beattie, owner of Glenpark Estate, a small hotel and open farm outside Omagh, told the News Letter he was excited to bring the animals to the show.

“We come to the show every year and we wanted to try and promote our business, to try and bring something new into the show,” he said.

They asked themselves what they could do, and even brainstormed the possibility of camels, he said, but eventually they settled on kangaroos.

“They are Tammy Wallaby Kangaroos and are about a year old at the moment,” he said. “They are quite small but they will grow another eight to ten inches tall when they are full grown.”

It is understood they grow to about 18 inches or 45cm tall.

Richard brought a male and female to the show and hopes to breed them in future - apparently the pair are roo-mates! Asked if it was possible to open the cage for a closer look, he laughed.

“No, they would be away,” he answered, noting how incredibly fast the animals are.

And after the show the pair will go back into the open space of Glenpark estate, along with his red deer, two of which he also brought to the show.

Both sets of animals were of acute interest to the steady stream of children passing through.

The deer were very calm and were quite amenable to being petted gently around the head and face.

Also on the estate are a range of goats, sheep and bee hives, from which they are harvesting honey.

Visitors to the Glenpark Estate stand can sample venison from the estate, which is also available for sale to restaurants and other outlets.

See if you recognise anyone - dozens of photos taken at today’s Balmoral Show