AUSTRALIA’S wallabies are returning home. Once common throughout south-east Australia, brush-tailed rock wallabies are now a rarity, their numbers having been slashed by hunting and predation by introduced foxes and feral dogs. Only 12 survive in the wild in the state of Victoria.
In New Zealand, however, these cuddly creatures became a pest. Introduced in the 1870s, up to 8000 wallabies once plagued Kawau island before a campaign to eliminate them began in 1992.
Now just 30 to 40 wallabies remain, and a plan to trap and repatriate them is under way. If all goes well, they will be distributed…
