Area of zoo
Free roaming
Enclosure status
Open
IUCN status
Least Concern
Scientific name
Macropus rufogriseus
Order
Diprotodontia
Family
Macropodidae
Region
Australia
Habitat
Forests and grasslands

Our red necked wallabies or Bennett's wallaby have reddish fur on their shoulders, the rest of the body is grey and white with a darker muzzle.

Wallaby facts

  • Wallaby pregnancy is only one month followed by nine months in the pouch.
  • A wallaby can jump up to 1.8 metres in the air. 
  • Wallabies are marsupials, which are pouched animals and native to Australia.  
  • Joeys (baby wallabies) are about 1cm long at birth and hairless. They crawl to the pouch and latch on to a teat.
  • Wallabies lick their hands and forearms to cool them down in hot weather.
Wallaby with a joey looking out of poach by daffodils at Whipsnade Zoo
Wallaby in the snow at Whipsnade Zoo

What do wallabies eat?

Grasses, herbs and juicy roots

Where do wallabies live?

Eastern Australia, Tasmania and the Bass Strait islands

Wallaby threats

They may be killed under license as a pest of crops or during open seasons in Tasmania

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