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NaturalistNotes Expansion ofthe range ofthe Red-necked Wallaby in south-west Victoria The Red-necked WallabyMacropus rufogriseus thescoriaconeatPenshurst,on 17March2007. is generally seen in woodlands where there is Thiswasmostunexpectedas thehabitat seems shrub cover, or on the fringes of forests. The to be atypical and the species was previously specieswasthoughtto besubstantiallyaffected unknownthere. Thenearestbushlandsourceis bypastrabbitpoisoningpracticesinwoodlands the Grampians, 25 km to the north. Unlikethe and bushland reserves. It also appeared to be BlackWallabyorEastern Grey Kangaroo Mac- lesscommonin itsformerhauntsfollowingthe ropusgiganteus,bothofwhichwerealsoseenat advent in the 1980s ofthe Black Wallaby Wal- Mount Rouse, the Red-necked Wallaby is not labiabicolor,whichnowoccupieshabitatsfrom generally known to travel across open country rockyrangestowetland fringes orbeach front- far from shelter. How did they get to Mount age. Visitors to Griffith Island at Port Fairy of- Rouse? tenseethisspeciesbrowsingon theintroduced The Red-necked Wallaby is recorded as a ShinyLeafCoprosma repens, even wading in a sub-fossil in bone deposits found in the By- pool to reachafavouredshrub. aduk Caves (Wakefield 1964). The species was TheBlackWallabywasrecognisedforthefirst not recorded in surveys conducted from 1974 time in the Grampians in 1979 (Bird 1981). By to 1995 in the contiguous volcanic landscape 1987itwasseenintheMountNapierStatePark ofMount Napier State Park (Bird 1997), or on and at the Fulham Streamside Reserve on the subsequentvisits totheparkup to 2010. Itwas Glenelg River near Balmoral. By 1992 it was a asurprisetherefore, to seethreeanimals in the common sight in and around Hamilton (Bird State Park on 16 January 2011, when driving 1992) and that situation continues, the wal- along the Cole Track. One adult remained on labies exploiting any areas that provide dense the track for a minute or two, no more than cover (e.g. sightings in February 2011 at Lake 15 m distant from ourvehicle but, at different Linlithgow and on the disused Hamilton-Col- sites, the others moved speedily into the dense eraine Rail Reserve at Bochara). This species Austral Bracken Pteridium esculentum in this was previously unknown in the region, unlike open Manna Gum Eucalyptus viminalis forest. the Red-necked Wallaby, whichwas often seen Wheredidthesenewarrivalscomefrom? north of Hamilton (e.g. Grampians, Dundas Onepossibilityis thatthe wallabiesmayhave Range, Fulham Streamside Reserve, Beear and come from distant sites to Wildlife Shelters in Rocklands State Forests); west of Hamilton the area. There are two shelters currently op- (e.g. Dergholm State Park, Hotspur State For- erating. Pam Turner (Wildwood Wildlife Shel- est, Weecurra State Forest); and, along with ter) on the Dunkeld-Moyston Road has had a the Black Wallaby, south of Hamilton (e.g. marked increase in numbers oforphaned Red- Cobboboonee National Park, Lower Glenelg neckedWallabiesathershelter(eightinthelast National Park, Pallisters Reserve near Orford, twelvemonths), butfewerBlackWallabies. The Homerton State Forest south ofMount Eccles wallabies are ultimately released in the Gram- National Park). Kay Aldridge (pers. comm.) pians by transporting them there or by soft from Heywood suggests that the Red-necked release’, where the animals eventuallyleave the Wallaby is now common in the Cobboboonee premiseswhentheychooseto doso. BlueGum forest, Homerton and Mount Clay, buttendsto plantationsprovidecoverandpresumablymost be encountered in small family groups rather animals re-enter the Grampians National Park thansingly,asis usualforthe BlackWallaby. or bushland adjacent to the park. However, it The first indication ofa change in the range seems unlikely that the Mount Rouse animals ofthe Red-necked Wallabywas the sighting of were derived from that source, which is 35 km severalanimalsonthesummitofMountRouse, distantacross open country. 144 TheVictorianNaturalist NaturalistNotes Robyn Richardson runs a wildlife shelter at sincethereareno plantationsnearbyandthere North Byaduk and uses a similar soft release is amuch greater discontinuityofcoveron the policy. Again, many more Red-necked Walla- clearedfarmland. bies have been cared for in recent years, with It seems probable that Red-necked Walla- a lesser number ofBlack Wallabies. The Red- bies have been deliberately released at Mount necked Wallabies are mostly derived from the Rouse, where there is sufficient cover from Heywood, Mount Eccles and Homerton area. planted trees, shrubs, garden weeds and rem- In this case the released wallabies could easily nantTussockGrassPoa labillardiereito sustain find their way to the stoney rise areas of the the small population. Whatever the cause, it Harmans Valleyand MountNapier State Park, will be interesting to see what areas they will only3 kmdistant. colonise in futureyears, or ifthey can retain a A second possibility is that the Red-necked presence in the ‘newer volcanics’ landscape of Wallabies from forests 25 km west of Mount theMount NapierStatePark. Napier or from Mount Napier to the south (I References sawthe species there on 21 May 2011) are us- BirdPR(1981)AnewmacropodspeciesoftheGrampians. ingthecoverofBlue Gum Eucalyptusglobulus TheVictorianNaturalist98 67-68. plantations, established in south-west Victo- BirdPR(1992)Expansionof,therangeoftheBlackWallaby ria from 1997 (Bird 2004), to migrate to new BiirndwPeRste(r1n99V7i)ctoMraiam.mTahlesViacntdoribainrdNsatoufratlhiestM1o0u9n,t89N-a9p1.ier thoab2it0a0t3s,,1i0n0cl0u0d0inhgaMoofuBlnuteNGaupimesr.weFrreopmla1n9t9e7d BirSidtn,aStReWoPdaVri(kc2.t0oT0rh4iae).VPHilacamtnotiralittaiononnNaSaptneudcrtafaltaiosrrtm,1f21o44reJ,sa5tn2ru-ya6rd6ye.,vpe.lo23p.ments on farms (Bird 2004), with a concentration WakefieldNA(1964)Mammalsub-fossilsfrombasaltcaves in the higher rainfall areas such as Byaduk, i2n74s-o2u7t8h. western Victoria. The Victorian Naturalist 80, Macarthur, Branxholme and Digby. By 2007 that total increased by about 30%, after which themajorprospectus companies failedandthe industry faltered. The planting provided cor- ridors and steppingstones’ thatwildlife might RodBird use to migrate across a previously cleared 21CollinsStreet, Hamilton,Victoria3300 landscape. Whether that could be the case for Email:[email protected] the Red-necked Wallaby population at Mount Rouse,20kmeastofMountNapier,isdoubtful, Forty-three yearsAgo FriendlyRockWallabies Theseinterestingnotesarefrom Mr.A.G.FellowsofAlabama Hill,ChartersTowers,NorthQueensland. Over a period oftwelve months we have won the trust ofover thirty rock-wallabies that, instead of stampeding up our rocky hillside as once they did, now sit near our tool-shed door both in the early morningandlateevening;orifnotin sight,comeboundingdownjusttouchingtherocktipswhencalled by mywife orme as webreakup stale bread loaves to throw to them. Soon the majority are sitting up straight, bread in paws, daintily though noisily munchingaway, heedingus very little, so that we often standpartsurroundedbythem, watchingtheir antics. Occasional fights and chases occur between some individuals,whilstothersmakecat-liketoiletsaftereating,andothersdrinkdaintilyfromtheenamelwater bowlwhichisoftenrefilledforthem. From The VictorianNaturalistLXXXV,p. 90,April4, 1968 Vol 128 (4) 2011 145