Yellow-footed Rock Wallaby ()

The Yellow-footed Rock Wallaby

The word wallaby is from an aboriginal name given to this animal by the Eora tribe that lived around the Sydney area in the past.  This Australian marsupial has to be the prettiest wallaby.  It can be recognized by its gray-brown fur, lighter colored chest, orange to yellow limbs and tail, a long dark stripe from the ears to the shoulders and white stripes on its cheeks and yellow behind the ears.  It lives on rocky terrain near vegetation in South Australia, parts of New South Wales and Queensland.  It has great camouflage ability so as not to be seen by its predators.  It can also stand very still or hop extremely fast to run away from danger.  When it feels danger around it will stomp the ground with its hind legs as to warn others of the possibility of a predator nearby.  Its predators are the Wedge tail eagle and the introduced fox.

The yellow-footed rock wallaby has a diet that consists of grass, plants and shrubs that it eats at dusk and dawn when the sun is down and the temperature is cooler.  It measures about 60 centimeters, (24 inches), in height and weighs between 6 and 12 kilograms, (13 to 26.5 pounds).  After they mate the baby is born without fur and blind one month later.  The mother licks a path on her belly that the baby must follow to the pouch.  After a bit more than 6 months the young wallaby is old enough to stay outside of his mother's pouch.  The female wallaby can become pregnant while she has a baby in her pouch.  The embryo will then stay dormant until the pouch is free.  Their life expectancy is between 12 and 18 years. 

They are now considered vulnerable because of the decline in population due to other animals eating their source of food.  If they have to travel further from their homes for food they have better chances of getting eaten by predators.  To help them, the Buckaringa Sanctuary has fenced about 20,000 acres of land to keep the other animals out.

Further Information on the Yellow-footed Rock Wallaby:

Bibliography:

Http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallaby
http://teachit.acreekps.vic.edu.au/animals/yellowfootedrockwallaby.htm
http://www.endangeredandrareanimals.com/brindled-nail-tailed_wallaby.htm
http://www.esl.com.au/rockwal.htm http://www.whozoo.org/Intro98/dewobate/dewobates1.htm
Unique Animals and Birds of Australia. Hong Kong: Rigby Limited, 1975. p.52