Bridled Nailtail Wallaby
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| Bridled Nailtail Wallaby Conservation status: Endangered | ||||||||||||||
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| Onychogalea fraenata (Gould, 1841) |
The Bridled Nailtail Wallaby Onychogalea fraenata is a wallaby which has white 'bridle' line, running down from the back of the neck. Another distinguishing feature is the horny spur on the end of its tail which is usually from 3 to 6 mm long) and is partly covered by hair. The use of the spur is not clearly understood. Some other markings include:
- a black dorsal stripe along the back
- stripes on the cheeks (ofteno found on other species of wallabies as well)
The Bridled Nailtail Wallaby can grow to 1 meter length, half of which is tail and weights 4 to 7 Kg. Females are someqhat smaller than the males.
The Bridled Nailtail Wallaby can be found only on one reserve near Dingo in central Queensland, Australia.
The Bridled Nailtail Wallaby feeds at dusk and during the night. It sleeps during the day, usually in a hollow beside bushes or trees. It keeps close to the edges of pasture grasses. Basically these wallabies are shy and solitary animals, but occasionally form small groups of up to 4 to fees together when grazing is in short supply. The Bridled Nailtail Wallaby likes to avoid confrontation and has two main ways of avoiding threats - hiding in hollow logs and crawling under low shrubs. If caught in the open, it may try to lie completely still hoping not to be observed.
Young wallabies are brought up in the mother's pouch. One young is born and availability of food sources determine how often they breed. The gestation period is 23 odd days and the joey stays in the pouch for around 4 months.