The Blue Mountains

The brush-tailed rock-wallaby (Petrogale penicillata) is a heavily endangered species now living only in the greater Blue Mountains region. Human shooting was the main cause of its decline. This is partly because kangaroos and wallabies were claimed as "pests" in the 1880's. It is estimated that during that period, hundreds of thousands of rock-wallabies were shot for their fur and skins.

 

Brush-tailed rock-wallabies are primary consumers meaning that they only eat plants. This means that they are at the second trophic level and are competing with other herbivores such as goats as well as trying to get away from predators such as eagles and feral foxes.

 

Strategies that are being implemented to help save the brush-tailed rock-wallabies include:

-Captive populations for breeding and research.

-Predator control, specifically that of feral foxes through baiting.

-Competitor control, specifically that of goats who eat the same food that the brush-tailed rock-wallabies need to survive.