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Animal Info - Bridled Nail-tailed Wallaby
(Other Names:
斑纹距尾袋鼠, 尖尾兔袋鼠,
タヅナツメオワラビー,
Bridled Nailtail Wallaby, Bridled Wallaby, Canguro
Rabipelado Oriental, Flash Jack, Kurznagel-Känguruh, Merrin, Onychogale
Bridé, Valabi-de-cauda-pontiaguda,
Wallaby de cauda pontiaguda, Zügel-Känguruh)
Onychogalea fraenata
Contents
1. Profile (Picture)
2. Tidbits
3. Status and Trends (IUCN Status, Countries Where Currently Found, History of
Distribution, Threats and Reasons for Decline)
4. Data on Biology and Ecology (Weight, Habitat, Birth Season, Birth
Rate, Maximum Age, Diet, Behavior, Social Organization)
5. References
Profile
Pictures: Bridled Nail-tailed
Wallaby #1 (58 Kb JPEG) (Wildlife
Images); Bridled Nail-tailed
Wallaby #2 (30 Kb JPEG) (Museum
Victoria); Bridled Nail-tailed
Wallaby #3 (83 Kb JPEG) (Terrambiente)
The bridled nail-tailed wallaby weighs 4 to 6 kg (9 to 20 lb). This small kangaroo is
mainly nocturnal, and while it occasionally moves
about in daylight, it spends most of the day in a shallow nest scratched out beneath a
tussock of grass or a bush. It shelters by day in the edges of brigalow scrubs and feeds
by night in the more open surrounding grassy eucalypt woodlands. Its diet seems to consist
mainly of the roots of various species of coarse grass and other herbaceous vegetation.
Nail-tailed wallabies are shy and usually solitary, although females with young and groups
of 4 to 5 animals have been reported.
The bridled nail-tailed wallaby was common in Australia
in the mid-19th century over much of inland eastern Australia west of the Great Dividing
Range, and ranged from the Murray River, Victoria, in the south, to Charters Towers
Queensland, in the north. Around the turn of the century, it was still sufficiently common
for bounties to be paid for its scalp from 1880 - 1916. It declined dramatically during
the last century. By the 1960's it was presumed extinct. However, it was rediscovered in
1973 in a 100 sq km (38 sq mi) area in central Queensland near Dingo. By 1996 the only
known significant population occurred in and around Taunton National Park near Dingo.
Factors contributing to the decline of the bridled nail-tailed wallaby include shooting
for fur and as a pest species (especially around the turn of the century), habitat
modification, introduced predators (fox) and possibly competition from introduced rabbits.
Competition with domestic grazing stock, especially sheep, has been proposed by some as
the most important single factor.
Tidbits
*** This wallaby has a horny pointed 'nail' on the tip of its tail, giving it the name
'nail-tailed'.
*** The bridled nail-tailed wallaby hops with a fast, smooth movement (hence its
nickname 'Flash Jack').
Status and Trends
- 1960's: Insufficiently Known
- 1970's - 1994: Endangered
- 1996 - 2004: Endangered (Criteria: A1a, C1+2b) (Population Trend:
Decreasing) (IUCN
2004)
Countries Where the Bridled Nail-tailed Wallaby Is Currently Found:
2004: Occurs in Australia (Queensland)
(IUCN 2004).
History of Distribution:
The bridled nail-tailed wallaby was common in Australia
in the mid-19th century over much of inland eastern Australia west of the Great Dividing
Range, and ranged from the Murray River, Victoria, in the south, to Charters Towers
Queensland, in the north. In 1866, Krefft called it 'the most common of all the smaller
species of the kangaroo tribe' in northwest Victoria and southwest New South Wales (Flannery 1990). Around the turn of the century,
it was still sufficiently common for bounties to be paid for its scalp from 1880 - 1916.
It declined dramatically during the last century. The last record of its existence in New
South Wales is from an animal taken near Manilla, in the northeast portion of the state,
in 1924. It seems to have disappeared from Victoria long before this.
By the 1960's it was presumed extinct, its last record being from the Dawson Valley,
Queensland in the 1930's. However, it was rediscovered in 1973 in a 100 sq km (38 sq mi)
area in central Queensland near Dingo. In 1981, it was reported to be common over an area
of about 110 sq km (43 sq mi). By 1996 the only known significant population occurred in
and around Taunton National Park near Dingo.
Distribution
Map (4 Kb GIF) (Maxwell et al. 1996)
Threats and Reasons for Decline:
Factors contributing to the decline of the bridled nail-tailed wallaby include shooting
for fur and as a pest species (especially around the turn of the century), habitat
modification, introduced predators (fox) and possibly competition from introduced rabbits.
Competition with domestic grazing stock, especially sheep, has been proposed by some as
the most important single factor.
Data on Biology and Ecology
The bridled nail-tailed wallaby weighs 4 to 8 kg (9 to 18 lb).
Habitat:
It previously occupied Acacia shrubland and grassy woodland in semi-arid regions.
Currently it shelters by day in the edges of brigalow scrubs and feeds by night in the
more open surrounding grassy eucalypt woodlands. There have been few sightings recorded in
cleared areas except during drought.
Birth Season:
The young of the bridled nail-tailed wallaby is usually born in May.
Birth Rate:
1 young is born each season.
Maximum Age:
One animal lived in captivity for about 5.5 years.
Diet:
Its diet consists of mixed forbs, grass and browse,
the latter becoming dominant during the drier seasons. It is a browser and a grazer.
The forepaws are used to rake aside dry material in tussocks and prostrate forbs to expose greener leaves and shoots. (Strahan 1995)
Behavior:
The bridled nail-tailed wallaby is mainly nocturnal,
beginning to feed at dusk. While it occasionally moves about in daylight, it spends most
of the day in a shallow nest scratched out beneath a tussock of grass or a bush. When in
danger, it may hide in a hollow log or crouch down in long grass or beneath a low shrub,
where it will remain even when closely approached.
Social Organization:
Nail-tailed wallabies are shy and usually solitary. The bridled nail-tail has been
reported to appear in larger numbers only when the dry season progresses and the pasture
deteriorates. Females may be seen with young, but larger groups of 4 to 5 animals have
also been observed.
References
Burbidge & McKenzie 1989, Burton & Pearson 1987, Curry-Lindahl
1972, Flannery 1990, IUCN 1966, IUCN 1994, IUCN 1996, IUCN 2000,
IUCN 2003a, IUCN
2004, Kennedy 1992, Maxwell et al. 1996, Menkhorst 1995, Museum
Victoria, Nowak
& Paradiso 1983, Oryx 1981, Strahan 1995, Terrambiente,
Wildlife Images
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