Whiptail Wallaby

Description:

Macropus parryi, also known as the "pretty-faced wallaby", is a species of wallaby found in eastern Australia. It's a sociable species, sometimes coming together in mobs of up to 50 members, although I only saw two in this spotting. They live in a home range of up to 110 hectares. (Wikipedia) Colour is light grey or brownish grey, with white underneath. Dark brown forehead and muzzle, and a white stripe on each cheek. It's a beautiful animal, and although this pair kept a respectable distance from me, it's the closest I've ever been to this species in the wild.

Habitat:

Spotted amongst the swamp tea-trees at Purga Nature Reserve, Ipswich SEQ. Surrounding area cleared farmland. Plenty of grasses and other herbaceous plants including ferns for food, but area completely dry due to prevailing drought. This is usually a wetland area during wet periods. https://www.ipswich.qld.gov.au/__data/as... This swamp tea-tree forest is Critically Endangered - https://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/13...

Notes:

Until 2008, the whiptail wallaby was one of four species of macropod that could be hunted under permit in Queensland for economic reasons. Numbers culled under the quota declined in the late 20th century and the wallaby was removed from the commercial cull list after a campaign led by Wildlife Queensland. Threats include (in order of severity): Habitat destruction through clearing and over-grazing and intensive agriculture. Increasing rural residential development on the wallaby’s favoured low hill. Urbanisation in south-east Queensland and coastal areas. Unrestrained and feral dogs, especially near areas of high human populations. The wallaby’s preferred forested habitat on undulating land in coastal and subcoastal northern NSW and Queensland is increasingly affected by urban development. Populations in the eastern Darling Downs and Brigalow Belt have been severely fragmented or lost. Conservation Status: Common in some localities but decreasing near areas of intensive urbanisation and grazing. Patchy distribution in northern Queensland. Currently listed as of least concern by state and federal governments. (Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland)