Swamp Wallaby

About the Swamp Wallaby

The swamp wallaby (Wallabia bicolor) is a small macropod marsupial of eastern Australia. This wallaby is also commonly known as the black wallaby, with other names including black-tailed wallaby, fern wallaby, black pademelon, stinker (in Queensland), and black stinker (in New South Wales) on account of its characteristic swampy odour.

The swamp wallaby is the only living member of the genus Wallabia. Historic names for the swamp wallaby include Aroe kangaroo. The swamp wallaby is known as banggarai in the Dharawal language. The swamp wallaby is found from the northernmost areas of Cape York Peninsula in Queensland, down the entire east coast and around to western Victoria and south-eastern South Australia, where it has greatly expanded its distribution over the past four decades. Advances in rabbit control appear to have resulted in extension of the swamp wallaby's distribution, which has expanded since the time of European settlement.

It inhabits thick undergrowth in forests and woodlands, or shelters during the day in thick grass or ferns, emerging at night to feed. They have been found to inhabit diverse habitats such as open farmland... Wikipedia →