Ian
priscilla 1Wallabies
January 14th 2008 11:24
A wallaby is any of about thirty species of macropod. It is an informal designation generally used for any macropod that is smaller than a kangaroo or wallaroo that has not been given some other name.
Wallabies are widely distributed across Australia, particularly in more remote, heavily timbered, or rugged areas, less so on the great semi-arid plains that are better suited to the larger, leaner, and more fleet-footed kangaroos. They are widespread in New Zealand, where they are often hunted. There are also a few populations of wallabies in the British Isles all having escaped from zoos, the largest of which can be found on the Isle of Man where there are around 80 wallabies and are breeding.
A small feral population of wallabies is known to exist in Hawaii, in the upper regions of Kalihi Valley of the island of Oahu. This colony arose from an escape of zoo specimens of Brush-tailed Rock Wallaby in 1916.
A number of wallaby breeding colonies in other parts of the world have been established at times in the past, but only one proved viable. The two principal populations were those of the island of Inchconnachan in Loch Lomond, Scotland and in the Peak District of England. The Peak District population was established in around 1940 by five escapees from a local zoo and lasted until at least 1993. At its peak the population reached a peak of around fifty individuals. The Loch Lomond population was deliberately established in 1975 and unmanaged has achieved a viable population of around 28. Restricted to the island of Inchconnachan there are occasional escapes to the mainland when the loch freezes over.
There is also a small population on Lambay Island off the east coast of Ireland. This group was introduced by Dublin Zoo after a sudden population explosion in the mid 1980s.
*These images used with permission from Damn Funny Pictures.
**This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation Licence. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Wallaby.
| 75 |
| Vote |
subscribe to this blog
