These Cliff-Dwelling Wallabies Were Backpacked to Their New Home in Remote Victoria

A skilled team of conservationists has completed a remarkable mission to boost genetic diversity in one of Victoria’s rarest wallaby species by backpacking a hand-selected group to their new home.

 

A team of ecologists, Park Victoria rangers, Traditional Owners, conservation scientists, and wildlife sanctuary partners successfully relocated a small group of Brush-tailed rock-wallabies from their home in Mount Rothwell Wildlife Sanctuary to the remote river gorge habitat of Snowy River National Park, 500km away.

The team of specialists handpicked three females and two males from Mount Rothwell sanctuary, Victoria’s largest feral predator-free sanctuary. Each wallaby was captured, weighed (between 4-8kg each), and health-checked before the team began their challenging journey.

A team of specialists capture and weigh the captive-bred wallabies at Mount Rothwell | Photo by Peter Bire

Over two days, three separate crews carried the animals in padded backpacks for multiple kilometres, then almost half a kilometre down into Little River Gorge in Snowy River National Park, to be released, where a colony of around 55 wallabies awaited.

The wallabies were gently carried in backpacks down the sheer cliffs of Little River Gorge to join the existing colony of around 55 wallabies | Photo by Willow Bourke

Why were the wallabies moved?

Brush-tailed Rock-wallabies are one of Australia’s rarest and most vulnerable native animals, with only about 80 left in the wild in Victoria across two isolated colonies. Once common across Australia’s south-east, their numbers plummeted due to the clearing of their native habitat, predation by introduced species like foxes, and changing fire patterns in the region. 

Known as a cliff-dwelling species of wallaby, Brush-tailed Rock-wallabies live among sheer vertical cliffs and the rocky ranges of eastern Victoria – they’re like the Australian version of a mountain goat!

Parks Victoria ranger Ella Carr releases one of five Brush-tailed Rock-wallabies in the Snowy River National Park to save the Little River Gorge colony from genetic collapse | Photo by Helen McDonnell

The wallabies are now mainly located in Northern NSW and southern Queensland along the Great Dividing Range, with small reintroduced colonies in Victoria’s Grampians (Gariwerd) National Park and Little River Gorge in Snowy River National Park. Because of their isolation, the Little River Gorge colony faced the risk of inbreeding and genetic collapse. 

This carefully orchestrated relocation offers the species a renewed chance at long-term survival, thanks to the unique collaboration between Wildlife Unlimited, Parks Victoria, Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA), Gunaikurnai Land and Water Aboriginal Corporation, Moogji Aboriginal Council, and Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve, ACT.

Back row (L-R): Dave Davidson (PV), Grace Waller (DEECA), Abbey Connell (Tidbinbilla) and front: Jo Durrant (PV) | Photo by Parks Victoria

Find out more at Parks Victoria’s website.

Feature photo by Tony Mitchell