Yellow-Footed Rock Wallabies
Scientific name: Petrogale xanthopus xanthopus
What are they?
The yellow footed rock wallaby is an endangered species. They are marsupials that are a part of the Macropod family. They are grey and brown in colour with a yellow striped tail. They have a white belly, yellow forearms and yellow feet hence the name yellow footed.
Where are they located?
They can be found in Australia in rocky places.
There were once many found in Flinders Ranges going through to North-West NSW and South-West Queensland in the grey ranges. Today there is only a small area where they are found, approx. 1000km squared.
There were once many found in Flinders Ranges going through to North-West NSW and South-West Queensland in the grey ranges. Today there is only a small area where they are found, approx. 1000km squared.
Why are they threatened?
The yellow footed rock wallaby have been hunted intensely by humans particularly through the 1800-1900s. Their fur coat was in high demand and was being exported from Adelaide to London. This led to significant reduction specifically in Flinders Ranges.
Another threat is destruction of habitat. This is due to grazing by domestic stock and feral herbivores and considerably by mining industry removing timber. By introducing animals to Australia the list of predators for the wallaby has lengthened. Of 23 dead wallabies found and examined in the Flinders Ranges between 1980 and 1984 3 were identified as definite fox kills, two as possible fox kills, as well as introduced herbivores made competition for food.
As you can see humans have had directly/indirectly been involved in the threat to the yellow footed rock wallabies. So surely it is our responsibility to help save what is left!
Another threat is destruction of habitat. This is due to grazing by domestic stock and feral herbivores and considerably by mining industry removing timber. By introducing animals to Australia the list of predators for the wallaby has lengthened. Of 23 dead wallabies found and examined in the Flinders Ranges between 1980 and 1984 3 were identified as definite fox kills, two as possible fox kills, as well as introduced herbivores made competition for food.
As you can see humans have had directly/indirectly been involved in the threat to the yellow footed rock wallabies. So surely it is our responsibility to help save what is left!
How can they be helped and what can we do?
To help preserve the yellow footed rock wallabies we need to watch our consumption. Our whole planet over consumes on everything, food, paper, timber, metals, land, water, plastic. We can help just by making small changes in our lifestyle. For example you can turn off your appliances once you are finished with them, recycle, and choose a transport option that is good for the environment.
You can also help by volunteering to help out different companies who work to conserve our plants and animals. You can donate to these companies to help them in their work or you can adopt an animal.
You can also help by volunteering to help out different companies who work to conserve our plants and animals. You can donate to these companies to help them in their work or you can adopt an animal.
The public's perspective...
After asking some people what they thought about the status of the species we have found that they think it is terrible that they have declined so much in number. They believe that we should stand up and do something to help them and that it has gotten far enough!
World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
The world wildlife fund aims to keep animals, plants and habitats from extinction. They have put the yellow footed rock wallaby on their endangered species list and have taken steps to try and preserve their species. This shows that the professionals are concerned with the population of the yellow footed rock wallaby. They can accurately see that there is a distressing amount of wallabies and that something needs to be done about it!
By Jessica