Black-flanked Rock Wallaby (Petrogale lateralis) lives in rocky outcrops across Western Australia. It feeds on grasses and leaves. Its conservation status is Vulnerable.
Fascinating facts about the Black-flanked Rock Wallaby
- The black-flanked rock-wallaby can halt the growth of its embryo until the environment is favourable. This pause, known as embryonic diapause, allows the mother to wait for the right seasonal rainfall before the fetus resumes development. Breeding cycles are therefore tied to rainfall patterns, ensuring that young are born when food and water are abundant. After the pause the gestation lasts about thirty days before the under-developed joey moves to the pouch.
- Mothers of the black-flanked rock-wallaby leave their newborns in a sheltered spot while they go out to feed, a behaviour that sets them apart from other kangaroos and wallabies. The joeys are born extremely under-developed and spend their early weeks suckling inside the mother's pouch. Once they are sufficiently grown they are deposited in a safe crevice where they continue to be protected while the mother forages.
- The black-flanked rock-wallaby obtains almost all of its water from the vegetation it consumes, so it rarely needs to seek out free water. To avoid dehydration during the hottest parts of the day it seeks refuge in cool rocky caves, where the temperature is lower and humidity higher.
- In 2007 South Australia recorded only fifty wild black-flanked rock-wallabies, a stark indicator of the species' steep decline. The state government reported that there were just 50 animals left in the wild in South Australia in 2007, and the whole species is now classed as endangered under the Commonwealth EPBC Act.
- A one-square-kilometre fenced reserve at Monarto, called the Pintji, now supports a viable group of twenty-two black-flanked rock-wallabies in the APY lands. The enclosure has helped to establish a viable population (22) of the wallabies in a 1 square kilometre fenced area, known as the Pintji, in the APY lands.
Sources
Every fact above was checked against these pages, and kept only where one of them states it.
At a glance
RangeWestern Australia
HabitatRocky outcrops
DietGrasses and leaves
About the Black-flanked Rock Wallaby
In the rugged, sun-baked outcrops of western Australia, the black-flanked rock wallaby embarks on its daily odyssey, navigating treacherous boulder fields with an effortless precision that belies its fragile existence. With each powerful bound, it propels itself upward, its robust hind legs coiled springs of energy, as it seeks out the sparse, verdant oases that sustain it in this unforgiving landscape. As it moves, the wallaby's tawny coat blends seamlessly into the rust-hued rocks, a masterful camouflage that has allowed this remarkable creature to thrive, albeit precariously, in one of the world's most inhospitable environments.
Hear the Black-flanked Rock Wallaby, and 4,400+ more
Real recorded sounds, 11 nature games and a free Daily 5, 1v1 quiz duels, conservation wins and a safe Kids mode. Free on Feravox.
