Wallaby

"Wallaby" is the broad term for mammals of the Macropodidae family that are smaller than kangaroos or wallaroos. As marsupials, wallabies gives birth to immature young and carry them in a pouch in the body until the offspring are fully developed. Wallabies are native to Australia and Papua New Guinea.

A wallaby resembles a much smaller kangaroo. Both marsupials have pouches on their stomachs, long back legs, short front legs and long tails. Wallabies vary widely in size between species, but typically range from about 30 to 104 centimetres, with tails as long as 74 centimetres. They have short, coarse fur and tapered faces and may have grey, black, brown, rufous or white markings. They hop quickly on their strong, powerful hind legs and use their tails for balance and support when sitting. Wallabies also use their hind legs to defend against predators, such as dingoes, eagles, Tasmanian devils and foxes. As herbivores, they eat grasses, leaves, seeds and fruit, typically eat at night.

There are about thirty species of wallabies. Wallabies live in grasslands, rainforests, woodlands, cliffs and deserts. Some species, such as the rock wallabies, brush wallabies and forest wallabies, are named after their habitat. Others are named for their appearance or another physical characteristic. For example, nail-tailed wallabies have a horn-like spur on their tails, and the red-necked wallaby has red shoulders and nape. Hare wallabies are similar in size to hares and share many of their movements and behaviours. Pademelons are medium-sized wallabies that, based on their species, may have a red neck, belly or legs. Quokkas are cat-sized wallabies that resemble rats and can climb trees.

Grown wallabies may be solitary or found in mobs. Males often fight for dominance during breeding, which may be year-round. A female wallaby usually gives birth to one offspring, called a 'joey', after a one-month gestation. Immediately after birth, the joey climbs into the pouch on its mother's stomach, where it remains for about nine months. Young wallabies nurse for twelve to seventeen months. They mature sexually between twelve and twenty-four months.

Brief History

Scientists believe the ancestors of wallabies arrived in Australia about 65 to 71 million years ago. They were possum-like marsupials that lived in trees. They evolved into the macropod family, which includes kangaroos and wallabies, between 23 and 30 million years ago. Fossils found in the Naracoorte Caves of South Australia show that red-necked wallabies lived in Australia at least 16,000 years ago and possibly as long as 200,000 years ago. Fossils from a cave in southern Tasmania show that they inhabited the island at least 14,800 years ago. Wallabies became widespread throughout Australia and lived with many now-extinct animals, such as giant kangaroos, marsupial lions and the Tasmanian wolf.

Aboriginal peoples hunted wallabies for their bones and meat but did not have a significant impact on their populations or habitats. After their arrival, European settlers cleared land and built upon it, which destroyed the habitats of numerous wallaby species. Europeans also introduced foxes and feral cats and dogs, which prey on wallabies. This caused significant declines in the populations of some species, such as the western brush wallaby. The tammar wallaby was driven to near extinction in South Australia due to land clearing and development and introduced predators. Once common, they are found only in a small region of Western Australia and a few islands.

Naturally found in Australia and New Guinea, wallabies have been introduced to several other countries. Tammar wallabies brought to Kawau Island, New Zealand, in 1870 when Sir George Grey took the post of governor-general there. Tammar wallabies were later brought to Rotorua on New Zealand's North Island sometime in the early twentieth century. They became pests in New Zealand and are managed as such.

Individuals attracted to exotic species also collected wallabies. For example, in the 1940s Lady Arran brought several red-necked wallabies to her home in England. A few decades later she moved some to her home in Inchconnachan, an island in Loch Lomond, Scotland. The population grew and remained on the island into the twenty-first century, becoming a tourist attraction. Wallabies were also captured for zoo collections and wildlife parks. Some animals escaped and formed wild populations. Over a hundred wild red-necked wallabies inhabit the Isle of Man in the United Kingdom. Their population may have originated with two groups of wallabies that escaped from the Curraghs Wildlife Park in the 1970s and 1980s. A wild population of red-necked wallabies also inhabits Lambay, Ireland. The Dublin Zoo had to get rid of some wallabies when its population grew too large for the zoo, so they were given to a family that had once planned to open a zoo on Lambay. The zoo never materialised, and wallabies flourished in the wild.

Wallabies Today

Several wallaby species are at risk, while others have stable populations. The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources lists several species as vulnerable, near-threatened or endangered. These species have declining populations and limited ranges, usually due to human activity, habitat loss, predators or hunting. The Black Forest wallaby is critically endangered. Endangered species include the nabarlek, Proserpine rock wallaby, Calaby's pademelon and mountain pademelon. Vulnerable species include the mala (or rufous hare wallaby), warru (or black-footed rock wallaby), brush-tailed rock wallaby, Mount Claro rock wallaby, bridled nail-tailed wallaby, New Guinea pademelon, dusky pademelon, grey dorcopsis and quokka.

Conservation efforts focus on recovery plans to prevent further declines, translocating threatened species to enclosed wildlife sanctuaries, breeding in captivity and reintroducing them to former areas. For example, by the early twenty-first century, fewer than ten thousand tammar wallabies remained in mainland Australia, but they were plentiful in New Zealand. In 2003 New Zealand tammar wallabies were reintroduced to South Australia. In 2017 wildlife rangers collected mala and relocated them to a sanctuary in Newhaven, Victoria. Other conservation efforts include culling non-native predators that prey on wallabies and controlling populations of other herbivores. In 2022, Australia added the Parma wallaby to its threatened species list.

Bibliography

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"Kangaroos and Wallabies." Department of Environment and Heritage Protection, Queensland Government, 22 Oct. 2015, www.ehp.qld.gov.au/wildlife/livingwith/kangaroos.html. Accessed 24 Jan. 2025.

"Kangaroos, Wallabies, Pademelons, Bettongs and Potoroos." New South Wales Office of Environment Heritage, 23 Nov. 2017, www.environment.nsw.gov.au/topics/animals-and-plants/native-animals/native-animal-facts/kangaroos-and-wallabies. Accessed 24 Jan. 2025.

"Kawau Island Wallabies." New Zealand Department of Conservation, www.doc.govt.nz/nature/pests-and-threats/animal-pests/kawau-island-wallabies. Accessed 24 Jan. 2025.

Pearlman, Jonathan. "Australia in Emergency Bid to Save Tiny Mala Wallabies from Extinction." Telegraph, 11 Nov. 2017, www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/11/11/australia-emergency-bid-save-tiny-mala-wallabies-extinction. Accessed 24 Jan. 2025.

"Wallabies." Bush Heritage Australia, 8 Aug. 2017, www.bushheritage.org.au/species/wallabies. Accessed 24 Jan. 2025.