Yellow Footed Rock Wallaby

The endangered Yellow Footed Rock Wallaby (Scientific name: Petrogale xanthopus) is a macropod, and member of the Kangaroo and Wallaby family.

Kangaroos and Wallabies are a keystone species in Australia? That means they are critical in maintaining a healthy balance for the ecosystem. They consume plant biomass contributing to regeneration, reduce vegetation (important for bushfire hazard reduction), spread the seeds of native grasses when foraging and fertilise nutrient deficient soils.

There are around 2000 – 6000 individuals left in South Australia, while sadly only around 175 left in NSW in the wild (https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/42931-Petrogale-xanthopus, 2024). They reside in rocky outcrops, boulder piles, cliffs, gorges and steep rocky slopes in semi-arid woodland in Eastern and Southern Australia. An adult male can be 80cm tall and weigh up to 11kg while an adult female is up to 60cm tall and weighs 6-7kg.  The coat markings are spectacularly complex being an overall fawn-grey with a white side stripe and cheek stripe, brown and white hip stripe and orange-yellow ears, forearms, hind legs and feet while the tail is orange-brown with darker bars or rings.

Current threats are competition for food and shelter from introduced herbivores such as goats, predation by introduced predators such as Foxes and Cats, habitat fragmentation, genetic risks of small, isolated colonies and catastrophic events such as wildfire and drought.

Many individuals and groups are working hard to protect the species.  We hope you can too.