Species Fact Profile: Common Wallaroo (Osphranter robustus)

                                                        Common Wallaroo

                                           Osphranter robustus (Gould, 1841)

Range:  Australia (excluding Tasmania)

Habitat: Savannah, Scrub Forest, Rock Formations

Diet: Grasses and Shrubs

Social Grouping: Solitary or Small Mobs

Reproduction: Polygamous.  Breeding takes place year round.  Embryonic diapause (delayed implantation) so embryo doesn’t start to develop until previous joey is out of the pouch.  Gestation period 30-38 days.  Joey travels to pouch after birth to nurse, starts venturing out at 6 months, mostly out of the pouch at 9 months.   Males mature at 18-20 months, females at 14-24 months

Lifespan: 20-25 Years

      Conservation Status: IUCN Least Concern

• Body length 100-140 centimeters.  Males substantially larger than females (28-42 kilograms for males versus 18-24 kilograms for females).  Compared to other kangaroos and wallabies, they have a short, wide torso and stouter limbs and short, broad feet.  The soles of the feet are roughened, providing extra grip on rocks
• Course, shaggy fur ranges from light gray to reddish brown to black, depending on subspecies
• Males maintain home ranges of about 2.5 square kilometers.  Females have smaller home ranges (about 1 square kilometer); males overlap with several females.  Generally solitary, but will form loose groups around abundant food sources.  Males compete for access to females in boxing matches, but these do not result in significant violence
• Primarily feed at night, sheltering in brush or under rock overhangs during the day.  Capable of obtaining their required moisture from their diet, can go 2-3 months without drinking
• Generally silent, but will signal danger by making a hissing sound through the nose and pounding their feet on the ground before fleeing.  Red foxes prey on joeys
• Four recognized subspecies: eastern (nominate), western, or euro (O. r. erubescens), Barrow Island (O. r. isabellinus), and Kimerley (O. r. woodwardi).  The subspecies differ in their size (the Barrow Islander being the smallest) and their coloration. 
• One of two (or three) species sometimes called wallaroo.  Common name comes from the Dharug name for the animal, walaru, with English spelling being a combination of the words “kangaroo” and “wallaby”
• Barrow Island subspecies is considered vulnerable (poor health and nutrition).  Other subspecies are common over a broad geographic range.  Some commercial harvesting allowed under monitored conditions