One of the 6 wallabies on WAnimals
Mammals · Diprotodontia · Macropodidae
Brush-tailed Rock Wallaby
Petrogale penicillata
It faces a high risk of extinction in the wild over the medium term. See full glossary
The brush-tailed rock-wallaby is a macropod specialised for steep rocky ground, with rough, padded soles for gripping stone and a long tail tipped with a brush of hair that it uses as a counterbalance. It lives in colonies on cliffs and in gorges, where it spends the day among the rocks and comes out at dusk to graze. It was hunted on a huge scale for its skin in the early twentieth century and is threatened today by foxes, cats and feral goats.
Weight
5 kg – 11 kg
Size
50 cm – 60 cm
Lifespan
15 years
Diet
Herbivore
Feeds mainly on plants.
Activity
Nocturnal
Active mainly at night.
Social structure
Colony
Lives in large concentrations, often for breeding reasons.
Sighting difficulty
Moderate
Fun facts
- It leaps between vertical ledges with astonishing precision, and can climb sloping trunks and almost smooth walls using the rough pads of its feet.
- Between 1884 and 1914 more than half a million rock-wallaby skins were exported from New South Wales, an exploitation that collapsed its populations before anyone had studied the species.
Life cycle & biology
- Skeleton type
- Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (mammal)
- Habitat & environment
- Rocky cliffs, scree and vegetated gorges in south-eastern Australia
- Sexual maturity
- 17.7 months
- Gestation / incubation
- 30 days
- Litter / clutch size
- 1
Sources consulted: https://www.iucnredlist.org/ | https://animaldiversity.org/ | https://es.wikipedia.org/
Where to watch it
Parks and dive sites where this species has been documented.
Related species
Other species in the catalogue with the most in common with Brush-tailed Rock Wallaby — same habitat, park, country, tags or family.
Red-necked Wallaby
Notamacropus rufogriseus
Red-legged Pademelon
Thylogale stigmatica
Western Gray Kangaroo
Macropus fuliginosus
Least ConcernEastern Grey Kangaroo
Macropus giganteus
Swamp Wallaby
Wallabia bicolor
Quokka
Setonix brachyurus
How to help
The brush-tailed rock wallaby is classified as vulnerable. Organizations such as UICN, WWF y Wildlife Conservation Society work specifically on its conservation and that of its habitat; looking into their programs is a good starting point if you want to get involved.
It's documented in 8 real protected areas — part of why protecting these places matters for its conservation.
Keep exploring
Based on what we already know about brush-tailed rock wallaby.
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