Back from the brink and beyond for threatened wallaby

Bushfires in 2025 destroyed much of the habitat of one of the few remaining brush-tailed rock kangaroo colonies.

While the marsupials in the Grampians National Park managed to hide safely in their rocky caves, the fire left behind very few leaves for them to chew.

Park staff had been feeding the colony for months to keep them from being vulnerable to predators as they foraged for food in the charred open landscape.

David Taggart of the University of Adelaide, an expert on brush-tailed rock wallabies, says foxes are the main threat to the species, which is vulnerable across the country and among Victoria’s most endangered mammals, with as few as 50 in the state’s wilderness.

Foxes may be the wallabies’ worst enemy, but climate change is making it harder for them to escape predation.

In addition to fueling more frequent and intense fires that destroy food and cover, longer and more frequent droughts drive marsupials to move higher in search of vegetation and water, making them easier prey.

“Foxes will be killers, but animals moving away from safe havens will lead to increased deaths,” Dr Taggart told AAP.

Better predator management is at the top of his list for future conservation efforts.

Dr Taggart said aerial baiting, used in other states but not in Victoria, was more effective than hand-deployed poison baits and was unlikely to harm native animals despite concerns.

A better understanding of how climate change affects habitats will help conservationists choose the best spots to reintroduce the species, he said, and is key to increasing the genetic diversity and resilience of new populations.

After the discovery of critically low numbers (as few as 25) in the East Gippsland region a few years ago, a captive breeding program was established at Healesville Conservancy.

Numbers soared using a new technique of placing brush-tailed wallabies’ young in the pouches of other species.

But the cubs came from a handful of adults, leaving few wild animals left to be brought into captivity.

The solution was to trap wild animals, carefully remove the young from the pouches, and transport them long distances in an incubator for the surrogate mother to raise.

Dr Taggart said the genetic diversity of the captive population was increasing and the breeding of the wild population was accelerating.

Once numbers recovered from critically low levels, the next step was to reintroduce them to the Grampians.

The researcher said the Victorian populations had not emerged from the forest but were “captive” and there were plans to reintroduce them to the park in the next few years.