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Parma Wallaby
Macropus parma

IUCN Status: Low Risk/ Near Threatened.

 

Size: Length; 85-107 cm. Weight; 3.2-5.9 kg.

Habitat and Distribution: Wet eucalyptus forests with thick undergrowth and grassy openings in central and northern New South Wales, Australia. They have also been introduced into New Zealand.

Age: 6-8 years in the wild, 11-15 years in captivity.

Groups and Breeding: Parma Wallabies live throughout their range and are usually solitary although two or three individuals may come together from time to time. There is no real social organisation with both sexes and all ages interacting equally; they also do not appear to mark territories at all.
They are promiscuous and do not have specific mates. They tend to breed from March to July with one “joey” being born into the pouch after a gestation of 35 days. This joey will remain nursing for 10 months after which it will leave the pouch completely. A female can breed just 6 months after leaving its mother’s pouch.

Diet: Parma Wallabies are herbivorous and feed on reedy grasses and herbaceous plants.

  • Wallabies come into season once a month when not pregnant. They will come into season just two days after giving birth and the fertilised embryo will only partially develop and will then remain in stasis until the existing joey is first able to leave the pouch at around 30 weeks. Although this joey will continue to feed by putting its head in the pouch, the new embryo is then able to continue its development.
  • A mother wallaby can produce two different types of milk that are perfectly tailored to the nutritional needs of both a newly born joey and a joey that has left the pouch but still feeds.
  • Parma Wallabies communicate in a number of ways including visually, by stamping, quivering and tail wagging; through scent, which is especially important at mating times; and vocally, by hissing, clucking and coughing.
  • This wallaby species was thought to have become extinct until it was rediscovered in 1965.
  • This is the smallest member of the Macropus family, the largest of which is the red kangaroo which is 10 times the weight of the Parma Wallaby