Red-necked Wallaby (Macropus rufogriseus) Familie: Kangaroos (Macropodidae) Orden: Marsupials (Marsupialia).

Other names:  Brush Kangaroo. The Tasmanian subspecies (Macropus rufogriseus fruticus) is usually called Bennett's Wallaby. Size:  Head and body length up to 92 cm (males) and 78 cm (females), tail length up to 88 cm (males) and 79 cm (females). Standing height about 80 cm. Weight up to 27 kg (males) and 16 kg (females). Distribution:  Eastern Australia, including Tasmania. Habitat:  Common in dry woodland and scrub. Food:  The food consists of grasses and a great variety of green shoots. Reproduction:  Females have a long mating mating period, during which they are in rut several times, but are only receptible for short periods, possibly only a few hours. A rut cyclus covers a little more than a month, and the female is pregnant for about 30 days. Females can mate again while they are still carrying a joey (baby) in the pouch, but the development of the second joey is postponed, so that the birth does not occur until the first joey has left the pouch. In Tasmania, birth takes place in February-April, whereas it may take place year-round at the mainland. One baby is born which is independent after 9-10 months. Activity and behaviour:  Nocturnal and crepuscular. Mostly lives solitarily, but females and youngs stay together for up to one month after the joey has left the pouch. Mating adults spend no more than 24 hours together. Certain places with high population densities, the Red-necked Wallabies may be seen grazing in large groups, even during the daytime. Longevity:  Red-necked kangaroos may become more than 15 years in captivity. Sexual dimorphism:  Males are bigger than females (see above). Variation:  Tasmanian animals have a relatively thick fur, whereas animals from the mainland have a coarser, less grizzly fur with more red on the shoulders, neck and rump. Status:  Widely distributed and common. In Tasmania it is believed to be more common now than before the Europeans settled in the island. Considered a pest by many, because of the damage it can do to recovering eucalypt forests. Also killed to some extent becaused of the alleged damage it does to crops and grazing areas. References: Nowak, R.M. 1991. Walker's Mammals of the World. 5th edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore & London. Menkhorst, P. & Knight, F. 2001. A field guide to the mammals of Australia. Oxford University Press, Oxford. 269 pp. Text & layout: Rune Midtgaard

Gallery Home Terrariet's Red-necked Wallabies often get babies. Here is a mother with a joey (baby) sticking its nose out of the pouch. © Rune Midtgaard. Even though the Red-necked Wallaby is mainly crepuscular and nocturnal, you can sometimes see grazing groups during the daytime (Narawntapu National Park, Tasmania, Australia). © Rune Midtgaard. Red-necked Wallaby (Narawntapu National Park, Tasmania, Australia). © Rune Midtgaard.