Whiptail Wallaby

Description:

Also called: pretty face wallaby, grey-faced wallaby, grey flier, blue flier, jabali The most beautiful and boldly marked of mid-sized kangaroos, the whiptail wallaby gets its name from its long tail, which tapers to a whip-like end. Edward Turner Bennett first named this species in 1835 from a specimen collected at Stroud, NSW.

Habitat:

‘Pretty’ delicate face with prominent white stripe and ear tips, plus white stripe on cheek. Back fur uniformly light grey in winter; brownish-grey in summer, white below; prominent light grey hip stripe. Long, slender, light grey tail with a dark tip Tail much longer than body (male tail approx 95 cm; female about 80cm) Medium size wallaby: adult male about 85cm long female smaller, about 70cm Male adults weigh an average 16 kg; females around 11 kg

Notes:

The whiptail wallaby rarely drinks except in extreme drought. It gets its water from the vegetation it eats. Whiptail wallabies were once introduced onto Heron Island but did not thrive and are no longer found there. The name of the whiptail wallaby comes from the hunters who used to shoot it to turn its extra long tail into a leather whip.