Survey guidelines for Australia’s threatened non-flying mammals

Bridled nailtail wallaby

Onychogalea fraenata

States and territories: Central Queensland - formerly occurred in north-western Victoria and central NSW.

Regions: Taunton Scientific Reserve near Dingo west of Rockhampton. Recently introduced to Idalia National Park, Central Queensland, and Scotia Sanctuary (western NSW).

Habitat: The surviving population occurs in areas where fertile soil supports open eucalypt forest, woodland and brigalow scrub.

Habit: Ground-dwelling in areas with habitat edges with sufficient shelter like shrubs, grass and fallen logs (Fisher 2000).

Avg. body weight: 4000–8000 kg (Lundie-Jenkins 2001).

Activity pattern: Nocturnal/partly diurnal.

Diet: Herbivore: grasses, forbs and chenopods, some browsing shrubs and possibly digs for tubers (Menkhorst & Knight 2001).

Breeding: Breeding occurs throughout the year, although pouch-young and young-at-foot are more often observed during late spring and summer (Evans & Gordon 2008).

Description

The bridled nailtail wallaby has white markings that run from the shoulders to its forearms and a black dorsal stripe that runs from shoulders to tail (Evans & Gordon 2008). The range of the bridled nailtail wallaby occurs west of the Great Dividing Range and previously extended across Queensland, NSW and Victoria, but it is now restricted to a small area in central Queensland near Dingo on Taunton Scientific Reserve (11 470 ha). The population size was estimated to be around 1500 individuals (Evans & Jarman, 1999); however, it declined recently in response to drought but is thought to be increasing again (Lundie-Jenkins 2001).

The wallabies feed on the leaves and stems of herbaceous plants, bushes and small shrubs (Dawson et al. 1992), which occur within the habitat of the transitional zone between dense acacia scrub and grassy eucalypt woodland (Lundie-Jenkins 2001). The wallabies are mostly solitary, feeding alone at night and resting during the day in the shade of bushes and shrubs (Evans & Gordon 2008).

At the Taunton site, female bridled nailtail wallabies had mean home range size of 25 hectares versus 60 hectares for males, although individual home ranges overlapped despite the tendency for individuals to shelter alone (Evans 1992, in Lundie-Jenkins 2001). Fisher (2000) found that preference for habitat edges may reflect the spatial arrangement of dense vegetation at wallaby height which was the preferred shelter habitat. In that study, shelter availability appeared to be a major factor constraining the movements of that population (Fisher 2000).

Survey methods

On the basis of previous surveys, the following survey techniques are recommended to detect the presence of the bridled nailtail wallaby in areas up to 5 hectares in size:

• 
  daytime searches for potentially suitable habitat resources, such as areas of open eucalypt forest, woodland and brigalow scrub (description of the survey technique and recommended effort is outlined in Section 3.1)
  
• 
  daytime searches for signs of activity, including tracks, scats and scrapes (description of the survey technique and recommended effort is outlined in Section 3.2)
  
• 
  diurnal surveys for wallabies resting, conducted according to the description of the survey technique and effort recommended in Section 3.3.1
  
• 
  baited camera traps may be of use in confirming the presence and identity of wallabies (description of the survey technique and recommended effort is outlined in Section 3.3.6)
  
• 
  spotlight surveys conducted either on foot or from a vehicle according to the description of the survey technique and effort recommended in Section 3.3.3.
  

Similar species in range

The bridled nailtail wallaby overlaps in distribution with the black-striped wallaby at Taunton Reserve. The species is distinguished by the larger body size of the black-striped wallaby, the solitary rather than gregarious nature of the bridled nailtail wallaby and the white bridle markings on the bridled nailtail wallaby. The scats of the bridled nailtail wallaby are more cylindrical than those of the black-striped wallaby (Evans & Jarman 1999). Bridled nailtail wallabies have a distinctive gait which also distinguishes them from black-striped wallabies.

References

Dawson, T.J., Tierney, P.J. and Ellis, B.A. 1992. The diet of the bridled nailtail wallaby (Onychogalea fraenata). II. Overlap in dietary niche breadth and plant preferences with the black-striped wallaby (Macropus dorsalis) and domestic cattle. Wildlife Research 19: 79-87.

Evans, M.C. and Jarman, P.J. 1999. Diet and feeding selectivities of bridled nailtail wallabies and black-striped wallabies. Wildlife Research 26: 1-19.
Evans, M. and Gordon, G. 2008. Bridled nailtail wallaby Onychogalea fraenata. In ‘The Mammals of Australia’ (Eds. S. Van Dyke and R. Strahan) pp. 355-357 (Reed New Holland: Sydney).
Fisher, D.O. 2000. Effects of vegetation structure, food and shelter on the home range and habitat use of an endangered wallaby. Journal of Applied Ecology 37: 660-671
Lundie-Jenkins, G. 2001. Recovery Plan for the bridled nailtail wallaby (Onychogalea fraenata) 1997-2001. Report to Environment Australia, Canberra. Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, Brisbane.
Pople, A.R., Lowry, J., Lundie-Jenkins, G., Clancy, T.F., McCallum, H.I., Sigg, D., Hoolihan, D., and Hamilton, S. 2001. Demography of Bridled Nailtail Wallabies translocated to the edge of their former range from captive and wild stock. Biological Conservation 102: 285-299
Sigg, D.P., Goldizen, A.W. and Pople, A.R. 2005. The importance of mating a system in translocation programs: reproductive success of released male Bridled Nailtail Wallabies. Biological Conservation 123: 289-300.