Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby Conservation
The Brush-tailed rock-wallaby is distinctive for its long, thickly furred tail that is used to balance when traversing through their typically rocky habitat. This species was once widely distributed in south-eastern Australia but have suffered from wide-spread decline in both its range and in abundance. In addition, the impact of the 2019/2020 bushfires which affected much of the known distribution of Brush-tailed rock-wallabies, is still not fully understood. Other threats to the Brush-tailed rock-wallaby include predation by foxes, feral dogs and cats as well as competition for forage with feral goats and habitat destruction and fragmentation.
Protecting the Brush-tailed Rock-wallabies in the wild
The priority sites for the Brush-tailed rock-wallaby are actively managed to prevent the decline of the species through pest animal control, monitoring of the species and threats, and community education. Actions also include supplementation of populations with captive-bred animals to improve population numbers and/or genetic diversity.
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Saving the Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby through captive breeding
The ex-situ (captive breeding) component of the Brush-tailed rock-wallaby conservation program is managed by the Zoo and Aquarium Association (ZAA).Several ZAA accredited institutions participate in the ex-situ program. Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary has participated in this program since 2010 and has a purpose-built facility for breeding the Brush-tailed rock-wallaby. We have successfully bred this species multiple times and are in the planning stage of building a new exhibit for this species.