Wellington Zoo wallabies » Wellington Zoo

Wellington Zoo wallabies
07-03-2006

* Red neck wallaby, 2 males,
* Tamar wallaby, 2 males and 1 female, caught up on Kawau island
* Brush tailed rock wallaby, 1 male caught on Kawau island
* Parma wallaby, 5 males and 6 females. 10 of them were also caught on Kawau island.

The rock wallaby was caught a wile ago together with a big catch up for export to Australia. The Tamar's and Parma's were caught around Christmas. Specially for Wellington Zoo. The aim was to also catch some more rock wallabies to set up a population in the zoo. We were also aiming to catch Swamp wallabies which can also be found on Kawau island. At present our mammal curator is on Kawau island to talk to the land owners to see if we can catch more animals before the eradication program starts again.

Al the animals transferred to Wellington zoo will be managed in such a way that we can keep the gene pool as diverse as possible.



This is the answer that I got from Wellington Zoo re the wallaby species that they have . Kawau island apparently has wallabies in abundance that are now quite rare in Australia -- originally bought over by one of our earlier Governors . They are becoming pests on the island , so Wellington Zoo is hoping to catch some alive , and use for breeding purposes .

How common are the above wallaby species in Australia ?

07-03-2006

hi nigel. i'm not sure about all the species but i can tell you that in victoria, the brush-tailed rock wallaby is critically endangered and a program at heallesville sanctuary is trying to secure the wallaby remains a feature of this states fauna.

there is an interesting story about the tamar wallabies from kawau. apparently they represent a south australian subspecies that has become extinct in australia. i believe they where the mains pecies that war re-patrioted to australia.

parma wallabies where once thought extinct too, but small populations have since been re-discovered and along with red-necked and swamp wallabies, they seem pretty common in zoo's and wildlife parks.

i had no idea kawau had so many wallaby species. i wonder why the zebra died out?

Kawau Island wallabies
08-03-2006

The wallabies are so common all over Kawau Island , they are considered a noxious pest , and there are plans to exterminate them , even if they are so rare or extinct in Australia ! Thats why Wellington zoo staff are there , trying to collect good specimans for breeding programmes , before they all get poisoned or shot .
Kawau Island is in a warm spot ( sub tropical in Summer , mild Winter ) and is covered in trees . There is very little pasture or grassland -- most of the island floor is leaves , pine needles etc .
I didnt realise the extent of the rarity in Australia of the wallabies at Kawau Island -- tell Healesville ands other such Australian sanctuaries to come over to Kawau Island quicksmart and help themselves to as many rare or extinct wallabies as they want -- the local aurhorities will be more than happy for the removal of the animals .
Even Crocodile Hunter will be tolerated ( Crikey !! This wallaby almost bit me -- this is real dangerous stuff !! ) but tell him to leave Bindys pet python back in Queensland unless he wants it shot ( and for him to be deported ) !

wallaby stutus'
08-03-2006

Red-necked wallaby - common in much of eastern and southern australia (including tassie)

Tamar wallaby - is very rare but can still be found on mainland WA and some neighbouring islands. In mainland SA it has become extinct and all south australian island populations are decended from the native population on kangaroo island. The kawau island animals are representatives of the now 'extinct' mainland SA form, thus their conservation singnificance. i believe some have already been re-patrioted back to australia.

Brush-tailed rock wallaby - still reasonably common in parts of E Australia, but virtually extinct in the S. they have also been introduced accidently to hawaii!

Parma wallaby - rare in NSW. was thought extinct for some time.

09-03-2006

G/day all,

I last I heard on the tv in the middle of last year they said there were only 20 brush tailed wallaby in (the wild) Victoria, you would think the NPs would be breaking a leg to get as many as possible from over there, they were saying the NPs (victoria) were only importing around 10?????, from what was said on tv the farmers (as always) did not like the idea to much, so maybe this had something to do with importing so tiny a number????.

Brush Wallabies
10-03-2006

Well I am sure that there are more than 10 or even 20 Brush Wallabies at Kawau Island -- the last time I went there , you didnt have to look very hard to find wallabies , they found you before you barely started !

But they aint going to be there for too much longer , and Wellington Zoo doesnt have unlimited space or resources , although they are doing quite well with wallabies that have all but disappeared from their native home !
( Perhaps I should tell Daniel Dickhead from Born Free ? Or perhaps not . He wont understand the implications of this rescue and breeding project )

Surely NP Victoria should be in contact with Dept of Conservation in NZ , and trying to find some way that the rarest species could be shipped back to Australia rather than facing a diet of lead bullets and cyanide ! The local authorities in the Kawau Island region dont give a toss about the wallabies conservation status in Australia . To them , the only good wallaby on Kawau Island is a dead one ! They are more than happy for Wellington Zoo to take what they can off the island , and I am sure that if some folk from Australia offer to capture some more , they will postpone the slaughter until those have been removed also .

Rare Wallabies
12-03-2006

Nigel, If you look at my first sentence I said in the wild in (Victoria) not Kawau Island New Zealand, I am sure there are many running around on Kawau Island and I agree with you 100% these zoos here in Aust should be trying to take a large number of them for re-introduction back into the wild here in there homeland.

Kawau Is / Victoria
17-03-2006

Yes , I do see your point .
But , I do find it ironic that these animals are native to Australia ( possibly includes Victoria ) Wallabies of any species are not found in such numbers anywhere else in NZ . There is a region in the South Island that has a few , but they are not so numerous to be seriously considered as a noxious pest , and I dont know what species these ones are .

Apart from that , the only places in NZ that you will see wallabies , kangaroos etc is in the zoo . We cant even have them as pets , although some places breed emus and ostriches , in farms specifically built for these birds . These are tourist attractions as well as farms , purely on the basis that they are so unique in NZ . ( I cant imagine too many Australians going gooh-gaah over some ostriches in a paddock , but this happens in NZ )

I guess that if there were huge flocks of kakapo ( a VERY endangered parrot only found in NZ , and the only flightless species , needing intense scientific intervention to prevent extinction -- but this still may happen .... ) if they were found in great numbers on some island off the coast of Aussie , I can garuantee that our Conservation Department will set up camp over there to bring back as many as possible to NZ !
I am very surprised of the apparent lack of interest by Australian Wildlife authorities .
If no one else wants to remove any of the wallabies from Kawau Island after Wellington Zoo has rescued what they could ( and they wont be able to take more than a dozen -- total ) , the remainder will be shot , regardless of their conservation status !

The fact that they might be common or rare ( and native ) in whatever state in Australia is something of a red herring if these ARE rare animals , and nothing is done by Australian authorities about this issue .

17-03-2006

well nigel you have to remember that the only wallabies of any real conservation value there are the extinct tammar subspecies. brush-tailed rock wallabies are almost extinct in victoria, but not in NSW. why waste money to import a small group of (likey inbred) wallabies from another country when we already have genetically diverse groups of brush-tailed rock wallabies in the wilds of NSW and in our zoos and wildlife parks.

however the australia did import 50 or more tammars - read the article linked and apparently was initially interested in some of the other wallabies as well....

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/st...ectid=10355504

importing of Wallabies to Australia
18-03-2006

Many thanks Patrick for the newspaper article that you attached .
All the news down this end was concentrating on the upcoming extermination of the remaining population on Kawau Island . It is good to read that some have made it back to Australia , as well as Wellington Zoo
I can sleep easier now .

18-03-2006

yeah, but i agree it is a shame they can't collect them all. maybe you should go and pinch a few for yourself nigel - i've always wanted a pet wallaby.

actually in regards to that - yes we can keep pet kangaroos/wallabies in australia. in victoria all you need is to fill in a few forms and you get a native species licence (i used to have one) and then you can keep everything from dunnarts and wombats to pythons and goannas.

people also can farm banteng, american bison, guanaco, blackbuck and buffalo with a simple licence too (that is not a zoo licence).

camels, deer, llamas and ostriches are just considered domestic livestock.

20-03-2006

blackbuck, buffalo, ostrich, camels deer and llamas are all for sale in the weekly land magazine. also, the brush tailed rock wallabies in victoria are apparently a seperate sub-species to those in nsw, who are also threatened and not at all common. this species distribution in our state is extremely fragmented, taronga and npws, as well as a number of private sanctuaries including one on the central coast are currently doing vital work including a project in the blue mountains to stop this species dying out completely due to predation by feral foxes. and i would hesitate to say that this species is yet secure in our zoos.

20-03-2006

also, the people down the road from us do have two banteng in their herd and a place about 15 minutes from our farm in a place called morpeth have water buffalo

animals that you can keep
20-03-2006

Gee , I'd love to have a python ! And be a member of the local herpetoligical association . I guess that it is because of an animal that is not possible to see in NZ , not even in the zoos , that I have an interest in snakes .

The best part of my last trip to QLD was to hold a burmese python ( by myself )

but I must admit that I also love kangaroos and wallabies . Its too bad that wombats often have the similar temperament as koalas .

22-03-2006

you may get to see wombats soon at wellington, as well as leopards. both species have been earmarked for importation into your country