Animal crossings

If you ever feel out of place, think about these 10 species that are thriving far from home

- Sneha Krishnan

1 Penguins in South Africa.

Penguins appeared around New Zealand and Antarctica about 65 million years ago. The flightless black-footed African penguin is probably only about 2-4 million years old, and possibly swam over when the climate was cooler. They've grown to like their warmer home though they spend most of the day feeding in the cooler ocean, and hanging out in the shade.

2 Wild wallabies in Scotland. On the island of Inchconnachan, in Loch Lomond, is a small wallaby heaven. Fiona Bryde Gore, Countess of Arran (and a champion powerboat racer) brought them over in the 1940s. She simply liked them and wanted them hopping around in her summer house on the island. Oh, to summer like her! Decades later, they are a showcase for the people of Scotland who take boat rides to the unpronounceable island and see the sights.

3 Mongoose in Hawaii. Hawaii had a bitter 1872. Rats infested the sugarcane fields, lowering yields of the lucrative crop. So, they brought in mongooses from India, and released them in Maui, Moloka'i and O'ahu to kill the rats. Oops. The mongooses feasted not only on rats, but local birds, insects and other small animals. Worse, they caused even more crop damage as they multiplied. Special fencing now keeps them out of sanctuaries.

4 Wild chitals in the US.