BRUSHTAIL ROCK WALLABY SURVEY

During our Pre & Post Ecological Burns Effects On Wildlife in SEQ Research, we particularly gave our attention to surveying the focal species, the Brush-tailed Rock Wallaby.

By following the lives of a single, small colony through camera trapping, tracking and daytime & night time observations, we gained the knowledge of the incredible behavioural ecology of this species, which was very useful in our study.

The most puzzling question was the isolation of this colony. No other known colonies resided in any proximity, and given the colony's low numbers of individuals, females would have to migrate long distances through dangerous areas to prevent inbreeding. This triggered several expeditions to the poorly known locations within the mountain range, targeting the highest peaks and the deepest gorges. During one of these explorations, a new colony of Brush-tailed Rock Wallabies was discovered, located only several miles away. This colony inhabited an isolated, hard accessible gorge system and was probably the closest genetically related colony.

This discovery was incredibly exciting and only deepened the mystery surrounding the secretive lives of these amazing animals within the deep, mountainous bush.