Bennett’s Wallaby

Bennetts Wallaby with joey at Wingham Wildlife Park by David Gower

Bennett’s Wallaby Natural History

Size

These wallabies can grow to approximately 3ft in height (90cm), and an adult male can grow to be as heavy as 20kg.

Habitat and Distribution

They are confined to Tasmania and the South Eastern Coastal strip of Australia. In this area they spend most of the day in scrub and woodland where it can keep out of the sun stopping it from overheating. During the night however, when the temperatures drop to a much more tolerable level for them, they will scavenge the open grasslands for food.

Age

This species generally reaches an age of around 12 years in the wild and sometimes over 15 years in captivity.

Diet

Their vegetarian diet consists mainly of grasses, herbs and leaves.

Groups and Breeding

The Bennett’s Wallaby is a marsupial which means that when the female gives birth to her single baby after a gestation of 30 days they will crawl directly in to the mothers pouch. Here they suckle from their mother for 5 to 11 months, until they are fully mature, at which point they are ready to leave their mother pouch. These wallabies live in groups known as mobs, of up to around 30 individuals.

Threats

This wallaby is classed as stable, unlike all other kangaroo species which have a vulnerable or endangered status. This may be because they have an isolated population on Tasmania, along with a ban from collecting them from the wild for the pet trade, which was once a major threat for these animals.

Interesting Facts

The Bennett’s Wallaby has the densest coat out of all the Kangaroos making it a successful resident in the cooler areas of Tasmania

The Bennett’s Wallaby During Your Day Out in Kent

Here at WWP we have one male Bennett’s wallaby named Tarooh, two females and also two of their young. The Bennett’s Wallaby, often also referred to as the red necked wallaby can be found in the old Horse paddock next to Little Himalaya.

The more you know…

Want to know more about this animal? Check out our keeper blogs about them here.

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