Wallaby

From Wikipedia

A wallaby (sometimes spelled wallabee or whallabee, though these are generally considered misspellings) is any of about thirty species of macropod (Family Macropodidae). Essentially, a wallaby is any macropod that isn't considered large enough to be a kangaroo and has not been given some other name. There is no fixed dividing line. In general, a wallaby is smaller and has a stockier build than a kangaroo; a wallaroo is any of a few species somewhat intermediate in size between a wallaby and a kangaroo. Very small forest-dwelling wallabies are known as pademelons (genus Thylogale) and dorcopsises (genera Dorcopsis and Dorcopsulus). The name wallaby comes from the Eora Aboriginal tribe who were the original inhabitants of the Sydney area. Wallaby young are known as "joeys", like many other marsupials.

Wallabies are widely distributed across Australia, particularly in more remote, heavily timbered, or rugged areas, less so on the great semi-arid plains that are better suited to the larger, leaner, and more fleet-footed kangaroos. A small colony of introduced wallabies can also be found near Waimate in southern New Zealand.

Wallabies are not a distinct biological group. Nevertheless they fall into several broad categories. Typical wallabies of the Macropus genus, like the Agile Wallaby (Macropus agilis), and the Red-necked Wallaby (Macropus rufogriseus) are most closely related to the kangaroos and wallaroos and, size aside, look very similar. These are the ones most frequently seen, particularly in the southern states.

Rock wallabies (genus Petrogale), rather like the goats of the northern hemisphere, specialise in rugged terrain and have modified feet designed to grip rock with skin friction rather than dig into soil with large claws. There are at least fifteen species and the relationship between several of them is poorly understood. Several are endangered. Captive rock wallaby breeding programs like the one at Healesville Sanctuary have had some success and a small number have recently been released into the wild.

The Banded Hare Wallaby (Lagostrophus fasciatus) is thought to be the last remaining member of the once-numerous subfamily Sthenurinae, and although once common across southern Australia, is now restricted to two islands off the Western Australian coast which are free of introduced predators. It is not as closely related to the other hare wallabies (genus Lagorchestes) as the hare wallabies are to the other wallabies.

New Guinea, which was until fairly recent geological times a part of mainland Australia, has at least five species of wallaby.

Additionally, a small wild breeding population of wallabies are known to exist in Hawai'i, in the upper regions of Kalihi Valley of the island of Oahu.[1] This colony arose from an escape of zoo specimens of Brush-tailed Rock Wallaby (Petrogale penicillata) in 1916.

A number of breeding colonies have been established at times in the past, only one of which is still thought to be viable. The two principle populations being based on the island of Inchconnachan in Loch Lomond and in the Peak District. The Peak District population was established in around 1940 by five escapees from a local zoo and lasted until at least 1993. At its peak the population reached a peak of around fifty individuals. The Loch Lomond population was deliberately established in 1975 and unmanaged has achieved a viable population of around 28. Restricted to the island of Inchconnachan there are occasional escapes to the mainland when the loch freezes over. Other populations that for some periods breed successfully include one near Teighmouth, Devon, another in the Ashdown, East Sussex and on the island of Bute and Lundy.