Brush-tailed rock-wallaby
| Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby | |
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| Species: | P. penicillata
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| Petrogale penicillata (Gray, 1827)
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The Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby or Small-eared Rock-wallaby (Petrogale penicillata) is a kind of wallaby, one of several rock-wallabies in the genus Petrogale.
The Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby is so rare in Australia that is has long been considered to be close to extinction. It is known as “the shadow” because it is rarely seen and extremely shy. The Warrumbungle National Park and the Little River Gorge area in the Snowy River National Park are two of the last remaining natural habitats. In New Zealand, on the other hand, it is an introduced species and is considered a pest.
In an attempt to increase numbers, a team of Australian trappers went to New Zealand in December 2003 to trap brush-tails on Kawau Island in the Hauraki Gulf, near Auckland. The species had previously been eradicated from Rangitoto and Motutapu Islands, also near Auckland.
Due to an escape of a pair in the 1920s, a small breeding population of the Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby can also be found on the Island of Oahu in Hawaii. Some conservationists have introduced plans to possibly capture a few and help establish a more heterogenous genetic background to restrict a severe population bottleneck.[citation needed]
The Brush-tailed Wallaby (and the Parma Wallaby) was liberated on Kawau more than 100 years ago by the then governor, Sir George Grey, and there were believed to be about 40 resident animals near the end of 2003. The authorities announced an eradication program and the Australian rescue operation, partly funded by Adelaide Zoo, swung into action.
If it is established that Kawau Brush-tailed Wallaby population is genetically identical to the Australian one, they will be interbred. The first six trapped on Kawau were taken to the Waterfall Springs Conservation Park north of Sydney, New South Wales.
References
- Template:IUCN2006 Listed as Vulnerable (VU C2a v2.3)
- Groves, C. P. (2005). Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 68. ISBN 0-801-88221-4. OCLC 62265494.