Red-Necked Wallaby

The red-necked wallaby is a medium-sized macropod marsupial (wallaby), common in the more temperate and fertile parts of eastern Australia,... more

by Eva Lechner

Title

Red-Necked Wallaby

Artist

Eva Lechner

Medium

Photograph

Description

The red-necked wallaby is a medium-sized macropod marsupial (wallaby), common in the more temperate and fertile parts of eastern Australia, including Tasmania.






Red-necked wallabies are distinguished by their black nose and paws, white stripe on the upper lip, and grizzled medium grey coat with a reddish wash across the shoulders. They can weigh 13.8 to 18.6 kilograms (30 to 41 lb) and attain a head-body length of 90 centimetres (35 in), although males are generally bigger than females. Red-necked wallabies are very similar in appearance to the Black-striped wallaby, the only difference being that Red-necked wallabies are larger, lack a black stripe down the back, and have softer fur.Red-necked wallabies may live up to 9 years.

Red-necked wallabies are found in coastal scrub and sclerophyll forest throughout coastal and highland eastern Australia, from Bundaberg, Queensland to the South Australian border in Tasmania and on many of the Bass Strait islands. It is unclear which of the Tasmanian islands have native populations as opposed to introduced ones.

In Tasmania and coastal Queensland, their numbers have expanded over the past 30 years because of a reduction in hunting pressure and the partial clearing of forest to result in a mosaic of pastures where wallabies can feed at night, alongside bushland where they can shelter by day. For reasons not altogether clear, they are less common in Victoria

Uploaded

April 15th, 2020