Parma wallaby
| Parma wallaby | |
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| Macropus parma Waterhouse, 1846
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The Parma wallaby (Macropus parma) is the smallest of the macropus genus. It can grow up to 52 cm in length, with a tail about the same length. They weigh up to 5 kg. The Parma wallaby's fur is a grey-brown colour on the back with a dark stripe. It has a white stripe on its face, and a white belly.
In the late 1800s it was thought to be extinct. Parma wallabies had been introduced and established on Kauwau Island, New Zealand, where they were rediscovered in the 1960s.[1] A lot of effort was made to capture and take the wallabies back to Australia. A small, wild group was found in Gosford, New South Wales in the 1970s by Eric Worrell from the Australian Reptile Park.[2] Parma wallabies are officially listed as vulnerable because there are not many of them, they only live in small areas, and they are threatened by land clearing and other animals such as foxes.[3]
References
[change | change source]- ↑ Department of Environment, Water, Heritage, and the Arts. Action Plan for Australian Marsupials and Monotremes
- ↑ Australian Reptile Park.[permanent dead link] Eric Worrell.
- ↑ NSW Threatened Species.[permanent dead link] Department of Environment and Climate Change, NSW.
