Red-necked wallaby

{{Short description|Species of marsupial}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}} {{Speciesbox | name = Red-necked wallaby<ref name=msw3>{{MSW3 Diprotodontia | id = 11000268 | page = 65}}</ref> | image = Macropus rufogriseus rufogriseus Bruny.jpg | image_caption = Bennett's wallaby (''N. r. rufogriseus''), [[Bruny Island]], Tasmania | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name=iucn>{{cite iucn |author=McKenzie, N. |author2=Menkhorst, P. |author3=Lunney, D. |year=2016 |title=''Macropus rufogriseus'' |volume=2016 |article-number=e.T40566A21953329 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T40566A21953329.en |access-date=16 April 2024}}</ref> | taxon = Notamacropus rufogriseus | authority = ([[Anselme Gaëtan Desmarest|Desmarest]], 1817) | subdivision_ranks = Subspecies | subdivision = ''N. r. rufogriseus'' ''N. r. banksianus'' ''N. r. fruticus'' | range_map = Bennett's Wallaby.jpg | range_map_caption = Red-necked wallaby's native range | synonyms = *''Wallabia rufogriseus'' Desmarest, 1817 *''Macropus ruficollis'' (Desmarest, 1817) *''Macropus rufogriseus'' (Desmarest, 1817) | synonyms_ref = <ref name=iucn/> }}

The '''red-necked wallaby''' or '''Bennett's wallaby''' ('''''Notamacropus rufogriseus''''')<ref name="afd">{{cite web|title=Australian Faunal Directory: ''Notamacropus rufogriseus''|url=https://biodiversity.org.au/afd/taxa/Notamacropus_rufogriseus|access-date=2021-10-26|website=biodiversity.org.au|language=en}}</ref> is a medium-sized [[Macropodidae|macropod]] [[marsupial]] ([[wallaby]]), common in the more temperate and fertile parts of eastern [[Australia]], including [[Tasmania]]. Red-necked wallabies have been introduced to several other countries, including [[New Zealand]], the [[United Kingdom]] (in [[England]] and [[Scotland]]), [[Ireland]], the [[Isle of Man]], [[France]] and [[Germany]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/united-kingdom/england/isle-of-man/articles/wallabies-isle-of-man/|title=The curious mystery of the wild wallabies living on the Isle of Man|last=Dickinson|first=Greg|website=The Telegraph|date=20 September 2018|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-06-25}}</ref>

==Description==

Red-necked wallabies are distinguished by their black nose and paws, white stripe on the upper lip, and grizzled medium grey coat with a reddish wash across the shoulders. They can weigh {{convert|13.8|to|18.6|kg|lb}} and attain a head-body length of {{convert|90|cm|in}}, although males are generally bigger than females. Red-necked wallabies are very similar in appearance to the [[black-striped wallaby]] (''Notamacropus dorsalis''), the only difference being that red-necked wallabies are larger, lack a black stripe down the back, and have softer fur.<ref name=TCGTTCOM>{{cite book|last=Staker|first=Lynda|title=The Complete Guide to the Care of Macropods|date=2006|publisher=Lynda Staker|isbn=0-9775751-0-1|page=54|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9P0COKdYFcMC&q=Red-necked+wallaby&pg=PA54}}</ref> Red-necked wallabies may live up to nine years.<ref name=IMOTW/>

==Distribution and habitat== Red-necked wallabies are found in coastal scrub and [[sclerophyll]] forest throughout coastal and highland eastern Australia, from [[Bundaberg, Queensland]], to the [[South Australia]]n border;<ref name=IMOTW>{{cite book|last=Long|first=John|title=Introduced Mammals of the World|date=2003|publisher=Csiro Publishing|isbn=0-643-09916-6|page=40|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7YC3cYhGMOcC&q=Red-necked+wallaby&pg=PA40}}</ref> in Tasmania and on many of the [[Bass Strait]] islands. It is unclear which of the Tasmanian islands have native populations as opposed to introduced ones.

In Tasmania and coastal [[Queensland]], their numbers have expanded over the past 30 years because of a reduction in hunting pressure and the partial clearing of forest to result in a mosaic of pastures where wallabies can feed at night, alongside bushland where they can shelter by day. For not altogether clear reasons, they are less common in [[Victoria, Australia|Victoria]].

==Behaviour== [[File:Wallaby-fighting-Tasmania.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Two adult males fighting]]

Red-necked wallabies are mainly solitary but will gather together when there is an abundance of resources, such as food, water or shelter. When they do gather in groups, they have a social hierarchy similar to other wallaby species. A recent study has demonstrated that wallabies, as other social or gregarious mammals, are able to manage conflict via reconciliation, involving the post-conflict reunion, after a fight, of former opponents, which engage in affinitive contacts.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cordoni |first1=G. |last2=Norscia |first2=I. |title=Peace-Making in Marsupials: The First Study in the Red-Necked Wallaby (''Macropus rufogriseus'') |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=9 |issue=1 |article-number=e86859 |date=2014 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0086859 |pmid=24489796 |pmc=3906073 |bibcode=2014PLoSO...986859C |doi-access=free }}</ref> Red-necked wallabies are mainly [[nocturnal]]. They spend most of the daytime resting.<ref name=IMOTW/>

A female's estrus lasts 33 days.<ref name=IMOTW/> During courting, the female first licks the male's neck. The male will then rub his cheek against the female's. Then the male and female will fight briefly, standing upright like two males. After that they finally mate. A couple will stay together for one day before separating. A female bears one offspring at a time; the young stay in the pouch for about 280 days,<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.eol.org/pages/133321 |title = Bennett's Wallaby |publisher=Encyclopedia of Life}}</ref> whereafter females and their offspring stay together for only a month. However, females may stay in the home range of their mothers for life, while males leave at the age of two. Also, red-necked wallabies engage in [[Alloparenting|alloparental care]], in which one individual may adopt the child of another. This is a common behavior seen in many other animal species like wolves, elephants, humans, and [[fathead minnow]]s.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Marianne L. |last=Riedman |title=The Evolution of Alloparental Care in Mammals and Birds |journal=Quarterly Review of Biology |volume=57 |issue=4 |pages=405–435 |date=December 1982 |doi=10.1086/412936 |jstor=2826887|s2cid=85378202 }}</ref>

===Diet=== Red-necked wallabies’ diets consists of grasses, roots, tree leaves, and weeds.<ref name=IMOTW/>

==Subspecies== There are two or three [[subspecies]]: *''N. r. banksianus'' (Quoy & Gaimard, 1825) – '''red-necked wallaby''' [Australian mainland] *''N. r. rufogriseus'' (Desmarest, 1817) sensu lato – '''Bennett's wallaby''', which is sometimes replaced by: ** ''N. r. fruticus'' (Ogilby, 1838) [Tasmania] ** ''N. r. rufogriseus'' (Desmarest, 1817) sensu stricto [Bass Strait, King Island]

The Tasmanian subspecies, ''Notamacropus rufogriseus rufogriseus'', usually known as Bennett's wallaby, is smaller (as island species or subspecies [[Insular dwarfism|often are]]), has longer, darker<ref name=TCGTTCOM/> and shaggier fur, and breeds in the late summer, mostly between February and April. They have adapted to living in proximity to humans and can be found grazing on lawns in the fringes of [[Hobart]] and other urban areas.

The mainland Australian subspecies, ''Notamacropus rufogriseus banksianus'', usually known as the red-necked wallaby, breeds all year round. Captive animals maintain their breeding schedules; Tasmanian females that become pregnant out of their normal season delay birth until summer, which can be anywhere up to 8 months later.

==Introductions to other countries== [[File:Albino Macropus rufogriseus rufogriseus.jpg|thumb|upright|A population of [[Albinism in biology|albino]] Bennett's wallabies (''N. r. rufogriseus'') lives on [[Bruny Island]].]]

There are significant introduced populations in the [[Canterbury Region]] of New Zealand's South Island. In 1870, several Bennett's wallabies were transported from Tasmania to [[Christchurch]], New Zealand. Two females and one male from this stock were later released at Te Waimate, the property of [[Waimate]]'s first European settler [[Michael Studholme]]. The year 1874 saw them freed in the Hunters Hills, where over the years their population has dramatically increased. Bennett's wallabies are now resident on approximately 350,000 [[Hectare|ha]] of terrain in the Hunters Hills, including the [[Two Thumb Range]], the Kirkliston Range and the [[The Grampians (New Zealand)|Grampians]]. They have been declared an animal pest in the [[Canterbury Region]] and land occupiers must contain the wallabies within specified areas.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Law|first1=Tina|title=Big bounce in South Island wallaby numbers|url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/agribusiness/9878404/Big-bounce-in-South-Island-wallaby-numbers|access-date=15 March 2018|work=Stuff|publisher=Stuff|date=28 March 2014}}</ref> Bennett's wallaby is now widely regarded as a symbol of Waimate.

There are also small colonies in England<ref name=IMOTW/> in the [[Peak District]] ([[extirpated]]), [[Derbyshire]] (extirpated), and the [[Ashdown Forest]] in [[East Sussex]] (population unknown). These were established ca. 1900. There are also other sightings frequently spotted in [[West Sussex]] and [[Hampshire]] and recently YouTuber 'Wildlife With Cookie' found a population in an unknown part of England not associated with the previous mentioned locations. One of this small population was a mother carrying a joey, confirming that breeding was still occurring in the UK.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqp3YKz74pM |title=You Would NOT Expect To Find THIS In England | (Animal Anomalies) |publisher=YouTube |date=2022-01-20 |access-date=2022-06-17}}</ref> He also went on to locate wallabies with albinism in [[Kenilworth]], [[Warwickshire]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJJr-50YA4E&t |title=I Found Albino Wallabies WILD In The UK! |publisher=YouTube |date=2022-02-07 |access-date=2022-06-17}}</ref>

There is a small colony of red-necked wallabies on the island of [[Inchconnachan]], [[Loch Lomond]] in [[Argyll and Bute]], [[Scotland]]. This was founded in 1975 with two pairs taken from the [[Whipsnade Zoo]], and had risen to 26 individuals by 1993.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.loch-lomond.net/theloch/inchconnachan.aspx |title=The Colquhoun's Island |publisher=Inchconnachan Island – Loch Lomond |access-date=17 October 2010}}</ref>

There is a significant group of escaped red-necked wallabies living wild across the Isle of Man, which are the descendants of numerous escapes from a wildlife park on the island in the 1960s and 1970s.<ref name=IoM>{{cite web | url=https://www.mwt.im/news/red-necked-wallaby-position-statement | title=Red-Necked Wallaby - Position Statement | publisher= Manx Wildlife Trust | date=30 March 2022 }}</ref> A 2017 study by estimated their number in the vicinity of the wildlife park to be 83 individuals, including a very small number of Parma wallabies.<ref>{{cite journal|title=The distribution and trophic ecology of an introduced, insular population of red-necked wallabies (''Notamacropus rufogriseus'')|author=Paige Havlin|author2=Anthony Caravaggi|author3=W. Ian Montgomery|url=https://arcaravaggi.github.io/publication/havlin-distribution-2017/havlin-distribution-2017.pdf |journal=Can. J. Zool.|volume= 96|year= 2018|issue=4 |pages=357–365|doi=10.1139/cjz-2017-0090 |bibcode=2018CaJZ...96..357H }}</ref> A 2023 study by the Manx Wildlife Trust using drone and thermal technology resulted in the first accurate count of the red-necked wallabies in the Ballaugh Curragh Area of Special Scientific Interest and Ramsar site. Two nocturnal surveys, carried out across 400 hectares of the Ballaugh Curragh over two consecutive nights, gave an average number of 568 wallabies with a density of 140 per km². As the survey site included surrounding agricultural land, it is thought the density would be higher when the wallabies retreat into the wet woodland during the day. Wallabies are now widely reported across the northern half of the Isle of Man.<ref name=IoM/> Along with concerns about inbreeding leading to a high prevalence of blindness and neurological disorders, there is concern that they are having a detrimental impact on the native ecology of the island, therefore the Isle of Man Government has classed them as an invasive, non-native species via listing on Schedule 8 of the Wildlife Act 1990.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://legislation.gov.im/cms/images/LEGISLATION/PRINCIPAL/1990/1990-0002/1990-0002_2.pdf |title=Wildlife Act 1990 |publisher=Isle of Man Government/Reiltys Ellan Vannin}}</ref>

The [[Baring family]], who owned [[Lambay Island]] off the eastern coast of Ireland, introduced red-necked wallabies to the island in the 1950s and 1960s. In the 1980s, the red-necked wallaby population at the [[Dublin Zoo]] was growing out of control. Unable to find another zoo to take them, and unwilling to euthanize them, zoo director Peter Wilson donated seven individuals to the Barings. The animals have thrived since then and the current population is estimated to be between 30 and 50.<ref>{{cite web | last=Connolly | first=Colleen | title=What the Heck Are Wallabies Doing in Ireland? | website=Smithsonian | date=2014-11-12 | url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/what-heck-are-wallabies-doing-ireland-180953304/ | access-date=2016-07-15}}</ref>

In [[France]], in the southern part of the [[Forest of Rambouillet]], {{convert|50|km|mi|0|abbr=on}} west from [[Paris]], there is a wild group of around 50–100 Bennett's wallabies. This population has been present since the 1970s, when some individuals escaped from the zoological park of [[Émancé]] after a storm.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cerf78.fr/index.php/groupes-a-themes/mammalogie?layout=edit&id=51 |title=Enquête sur le Wallaby de Bennett en Forêt d'Yvelines |author=|date=2019 |website=CERF78 |access-date= 25 April 2020|language=fr |trans-title=Investigation of Bennett's Wallaby in the Yvelines Forest}}</ref>

In [[Germany]], a wild population originating from zoo escapees exists in the federated state of [[Mecklenburg-Vorpommern]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.br.de/br-fernsehen/sendungen/welt-der-tiere/kaenguru-mecklenburg-vorpommern-100.html |title=Die Kängurus von Mecklenburg |author=Angelika Sigl |date=5 June 2021 |work=Bayerische Rundfunk (BR) |language=de |access-date=16 April 2024}}</ref>

In October 2014, three captive Bennett's wallabies escaped into the wild in northern [[Austria]] and one of them roamed the area for three months before being recaptured, surprisingly surviving the harsh winter there. The case attracted media attention, as it humorously defeated the popular slogan "There are no [[kangaroo]]s in Austria."<ref>{{cite web|title=Runaway 'kangaroo' spotted in garden |url=http://www.thelocal.at/20150128/runaway-kangaroo-spotted-in-austrian-garden |date=28 January 2015 |newspaper=The Local.at}}</ref>

==Gallery== <gallery> Wallaby joey face in pouch.jpg|A joey in a pouch Red necked wallaby444.jpg|A red-necked wallaby (''N. r. banksianus'') Macropus rufogriseus rufogriseus Juvenile 2.jpg|Juvenile (''N. r. rufogriseus'') Bennett's wallaby (Notamacropus rufogriseus rufogriseus) female and joey Ben Lomond.jpg|female and joey (''N. r. rufogriseus'') White wallaby (Notamacropus rufogriseus rufogriseus) female South Bruny.jpg|White wallaby female (''N. r. rufogriseus'') Macropus rufogriseus 04 MWNH 927.JPG|Skull </gallery>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Further reading== {{refbegin}} * {{cite journal | last1=Latham | first1=A. David M. | last2=Latham | first2=M. Cecilia | last3=Warburton | first3=Bruce | title=Current and predicted future distributions of wallabies in mainland New Zealand | journal=[[New Zealand Journal of Zoology]] | volume=46 | issue=1 | date=2018-06-11 | issn=0301-4223 | doi=10.1080/03014223.2018.1470540 | pages=31–47| s2cid=89942240 }} * {{cite journal | last1=English | first1=Holly M. | last2=Caravaggi | first2=Anthony | title=Where's wallaby? Using public records and media reports to describe the status of red-necked wallabies in Britain | journal=[[Ecology and Evolution]] | date=2020-11-02 | volume=10 | issue=23 | pages=12949–12959 | issn=2045-7758 | doi=10.1002/ece3.6877 | pmid=33304507 | pmc=7713933 | doi-access=free | bibcode=2020EcoEv..1012949E }} * {{cite web | last=Bentley | first=Ross | title=Could wallabies be about to colonise north Essex? | website=[[East Anglian Daily Times]] | date=2018-08-18 | url=http://www.eadt.co.uk/news/environmentalists-views-on-wallabies-colonising-parts-of-east-anglia-1-5657677 | access-date=2020-11-12}} * {{cite news | last=McCarthy | first=Michael | title=The decline and fall of the Peak District wallabies | website=[[The Independent]] | date=2013-02-20 | url=http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/nature_studies/decline-and-fall-peak-district-wallabies-8503546.html | access-date=2020-11-12}} * {{cite web | last1=Caravaggi | first1=Anthony | last2=English | first2=Holly | title=Wallabies are on the loose in Britain – and we've mapped 95 sightings | website=[[The Conversation (website)|The Conversation]] | date=2020-11-03 | url=http://theconversation.com/wallabies-are-on-the-loose-in-britain-and-weve-mapped-95-sightings-148374 | access-date=2020-11-12}} *{{cite web |title=''Macropus rufogriseus'' |publisher=[[Atlas of Living Australia]] |url=https://bie.ala.org.au/species/NZOR-6-123977}}

==External links== * [http://ukwallabies.weebly.com/ UK Wallaby Sightings]

[[Category:Macropods]] [[Category:Marsupials of Australia]] [[Category:Endemic fauna of Australia]] [[Category:Mammals of Tasmania]] [[Category:Mammals of South Australia]] [[Category:Mammals of New South Wales]] [[Category:Mammals of Queensland]] [[Category:Mammals of Victoria (state)]] [[Category:Waimate District]] [[Category:Mammals described in 1817]] [[Category:Taxa named by Anselme Gaëtan Desmarest]]