Whiptail Wallaby

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)