Southern Brush-tailed Rock Wallaby (Petrogale penicillata, Macropodidae: Kangaroos, Wallabies)
Formerly the Brush-tailed rock Wallaby could be found in the ranges and rocky outcrops of southeastern Australia from western Victoria to southeast Queensland. Historic hunting for fur, competition from goats, isolation of habitats and especially predation by the introduced fox have greatly reduced numbers and distribution of this lovely animal.
The animals filmed here are members of the southern population of this species maintained in a fox free habitat at Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve near Canberra. This population was found in Victoria and the southern Australian Alps in SE NSW. The last one seen in the wild in the Canberra area was apparently back in 1959! It is thought that fewer than 40 of this population currently remain in the wild in Victoria. It is now a subject of a recovery program to build up numbers and reintroduce it to the wild see btrw.org/ and tidbinbilla.act.gov.au/learn/tidbinbilla/endangered-species-breeding-programs.