Habitat

Location and Diet

Whiptails live primarily in woodlands and grasslands, usually on hills or slopes (Fisher 2002; Ride 1970). The red-necked wallaby live in woodlands, forest edge, and coastal scrub areas (Ride 1970). The most diurnal of all the Macropus species is the M. parryi and the most nocturnal is M. rufogriseus (Nowak).

The whiptail wallaby and the red-necked wallaby are both listed as primary grazers (Hume 1999). M. parryi includes primarily monocot parts in its diet nearby creeks. On grasslands, the primary diet of the wallabies is kangaroo grass (Themeda australis). The red-necked wallaby, a browser, use scrapes under shrubs and debris on the forest floor for shelter (Nowak 2005). The red-necked wallaby regurgitates its food, but does not ruminate. “The animal, after a meal, makes a vigorous heaving movement of its chest and abdomen, and the stomach contents, which are forced up into the mouth appear to be re-swallowed without any further chewing” (Hume 1999).

Whiptail wallabies are diurnal: John Kaufman found that the whiptails were very active in both feeding social activity in the morning and late in the afternoons, with activity continuing “to an unknown extent during the night” (Kaufman, 1974a).

Whiptail Wallby. photo used with permission from http://homepage.mac.com/keithdavey/macropods/whiptail-wallaby.htm

Distribution

The red-necked wallaby is found in Australia, Tanzania, islands in the Bass Strait, New Zealand (Nowak 2005). There are also small, wild populations of red-necked wallabies in England’s Pennine Hills and in Germany (MacDonald 2001).

Whiptail Wallby Distribution (left) and Red-Necked Wallby Distribution (right)

from http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/trade-use/wild-harvest/kangaroo/harvesting/roobg-03.html and from http://www.geocities.com/ozwildlife/redneckedwallaby.html

Threats

The most likely predators on wallabies are the introduced dingo (Canis familiaris dingo) and the fox (Vulpes vulpes) (Kaufman, 1974). Other predators are the wedge-tailed eagle (Aquila audax), feral house cats and the now extinct thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus, a marsupial ‘wolf’) (MacDonald, Kaufman 1974b, Coulson 1999). Generally, the whiptail wallabies stay at least 200 meters from the forest edge, in order to have cover from predators (Kaufman 1974). When a wallaby feels threatened, it thumps loudly on its first few hops when fleeing. This alarm signal is recognized amongst all wallaby, kangaroo, and wallaroo species, and will serve to raise alert among all the macropods in the area (Kaufman 1974a). If mother is being chased by a dingo, she may relax the sphincter muscles closing the pouch, sacrificing the young to be eaten while she escapes (MacDonald). The wallabies are also threatened by humans, as whiptails are hunted for their skins, and red-necked wallabies are hunted for their meat as well as their skins (Southwell 1995).

Dingo. Photo from http://www.reisealbum.de/bilder/australien/uluru/gross/dingo.jpg. Permission pending.

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This website was completed in partial fufillment of the requirements for Biology 323, Animal Behavior, at Davidson College in the Spring Semester 2007.