Survey guidelines for Australia’s threatened non-flying mammals

Brush-tailed rock wallaby

Petrogale penicillata

States and territories: Queensland, NSW and South Australia.

Regions: Great Dividing Range (Queensland, NSW and Victoria), Grampians (Victoria) and Warrumbungle National Park (NSW) (Menkhorst & Knight 2001).

Habitat: Rock boulders, escarpments (usually with a northerly aspect) and cliff lines (Eldridge & Pearson 2008), however, vegetation may also be used for shelter. A full description is provided in NSW NPWS (2002).

Habit: Ground-dwelling.

Avg. body weight: 7900 g (males) and 6300 g (females) (Eldridge & Pearson 2008).

Activity pattern: Diurnal/nocturnal.

Diet: Herbivore; grasses, shrubs and forbs (Short 1989).

Breeding: Breeding probably occurs throughout the year, but most births occur between August and November (Joblin 1983).

Description

The range of the brush-tailed rock wallaby occurs within three states (Queensland, NSW and Victoria) within south-eastern Australia. The species has declined throughout its range in response to a number of factors including persecution as pests, predation by introduced predators and competition with introduced herbivores (Eldridge & Pearson 2008; NSW NPWS 2002). The distribution is now highly fragmented, and Browning and colleagues (2001) describe the likelihood of migration between small remnant populations to be very low to non-existent. Small populations are thought to be possibly nomadic, with evidence from surveys of colonies disappearing and reappearing (Norris & Belcher 1986). Furthermore, individual wallabies are known to disperse in response to disturbance (see NSW NPWS 2002), which indicates that surveys conducted over a short time frame may fail to detect dispersing individuals near known populations of this species.

Extensive research has been conducted into the brush-tailed rock wallaby and only a very brief summary of that literature is provided here. Refer to the recovery plan for the species, or the NSW NPWS (2002) Warrumbungle brush-tailed rock wallaby endangered population recovery plan for a more thorough review of the available literature.

Survey methods

On the basis of previous surveys, the following survey techniques are recommended to detect the presence of the brush-tailed rock wallaby in areas up to 5 hectares in size:

• 
  daytime searches for potentially suitable habitat resources, such as shelters sites (caves, rock boulders and rock ledges) in suitable boulder pile, escarpment and cliff-line habitats (description of the survey technique and recommended effort is outlined in Section 3.3.11)
  
• 
  daytime searches for signs of activity, including tracks, scats and rock shelters worn smooth from resting (description of the survey technique and recommended effort is outlined in Section 3.3.11)
  

• 
  possibly the collection of predator scats, owl casts or remains, targeting predatory bird and mammal nests and dens (description of the survey technique and recommended effort is outlined in Section 3.2.3)
  
• 
  baited camera traps may be of use in confirming the presence and identity of rock wallabies (description of the survey technique and recommended effort is outlined in Section 3.3.6)
  
• 
  Baited camera traps may be of use in confirming the presence and identity of rock wallabies (description of the survey technique and recommended effort is outlined in Section 3.3.6)
  

• 
  observations for rock wallabies basking during the day, or becoming active at dusk, using binoculars from a location on the ground beneath suitable habitat or possibly from a helicopter according to the suggested survey technique and effort provided in Section 3.3.11 (minimising disturbance to animals to ensure wallabies do not fall).
  

The known range of the brush-tailed rock wallaby overlaps with that of Herbert's rock wallaby in the north. Should confirmation of the species identity be required, then cage trapping surveys (conducted according to the description and recommended survey effort provided in Section 3.3.10 and 3.3.11), camera trapping (see 3.3.6) or genetic analysis of hair or tissue samples may need to be considered. These survey techniques can only be conducted with appropriate permission and licensing from relevant state or territory government organisations.

Similar species in range

The range of the brush-tailed rock wallaby overlaps with that of Herbert's rock wallaby Petrogale herberti in the north of the range.

References

Browning, T.L., Taggart, D.A. Rummery, C., Close, R.L. and Eldridge, M.D.B. 2001. Multifaceted genetic analysis of the 'Critically Endangered' brush-tailed rock wallaby Petrogale penicillata in Victoria, Australia: Implications for management. Conservation Genetics 2: 145-156.

Eldridge, M.D.B. and Pearson. D.J. 2008. Black-footed Rock wallaby Petrogale lateralis. In ‘The Mammals of Australia’ (Eds. S. Van Dyck and R. Strahan) pp. 376-380 (Reed New Holland: Sydney).
Joblin, K.P.W. 1983. Behaviour and ecology of the brushtailed rockwallaby Petrogale penicillata, in the New England region. Master of Natural Resource thesis. University of New England, Armidale, NSW.
Menkhorst, P. and Knight, F. 2001. A field Guide to the Mammals of Australia. (Oxford University Press: Australia).
Norris, K.C. and Belcher, C.A. 1986. The Brush-tailed Rock wallaby in Gippsland. Unpublished Report compiled for the Bairnsdale Region, Dept. of Conservation, Forests and Lands.
NSW NPWS. 2002. Warrumbungle Brush-tailed Rock wallaby Endangered Population Recovery Plan. NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, Hurstville NSW.
Short, J.C. 1989. The diet of the Brush-tailed Rock wallaby in New South Wales. Australian Wildlife Research 16: 11-18.