Mammals · Diprotodontia · Macropodidae

Red-necked Wallaby

Notamacropus rufogriseus

Least Concern

The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk. See full glossary

The red-necked wallaby, or Bennett's wallaby, is a medium-sized macropod recognisable by the reddish tone of its nape and shoulders. It spends the day hidden in thick cover and comes out at dusk to graze in clearings and meadows. It is the kangaroo species that has best colonised cold climates: the Tasmanian subspecies withstands snowfall. Outside Australia there are established feral populations at several points in Europe and in New Zealand, descended from escapes from private collections.

Weight

11 kg – 27 kg

Size

70 cm – 90 cm

Lifespan

9 years

Diet

Herbivore

Feeds mainly on plants.

Activity

Nocturnal

Active mainly at night.

Social structure

Solitary

Lives and hunts alone, joining others only to breed.

Sighting difficulty

Easy

Temperate forestGrasslandHerbivore Nocturnal Solitary Temperate forest Grassland Mammal

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Fun facts

There is a stable feral population in the forest of Rambouillet, near Paris, descended from animals that escaped from a zoological park in the 1970s.
The female can hold an embryo suspended in diapause for months and restart its development just as the previous joey leaves the pouch.

Life cycle & biology

Skeleton type: Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (mammal)
Habitat & environment: Sclerophyll woodland, dense scrub and forest margins of eastern and southern Australia
Sexual maturity: 14 months
Gestation / incubation: 30 days
Litter / clutch size: 1

Sources consulted: https://www.iucnredlist.org/ | https://animaldiversity.org/ | https://es.wikipedia.org/