Yellow-footed Rock Wallaby
You can judge a yellow-footed rock wallaby by its name: Its feet are an orangey-yellow and its preferred terrain is, you guessed it—rocks. These petite wallabies from southern Australia are strong athletes. Their giant hind feet act like off-road car tires, with extra padding and bumps for traction that make them excellent jumpers. In fact, rock wallabies can jump more than twice their height and can make truly spectacular leaps by "cannoning" off upright surfaces, achieving distances of up to 20 feet.
Lifestyle
Yellow-footed rock wallabies live in groups called mobs, comprising up to 100 individuals. Within a mob, it is possible to observe distinct family groups of six to eight adults. These smaller family groups usually include an adult male and several females, along with their offspring and juvenile males.
Rock wallaby groups typically spend their days resting in the rock crevices and caves, but will occasionally come out to sunbathe. The mothers and their young communicate by clucking and grunting. They will also play with and groom each other.
Food
Like all wallabies, yellow-footed rock wallabies are herbivores. They eat grass, leaves, herbs, and fruit, preferring to browse at dusk and dawn when the sun is down and the temperature is cooler.
Life Cycle
As marsupials, yellow-footed rock wallabies begin life in their mothers' pouches, as joeys. After a period of about a month, the mother gives birth to a tiny, blind and bald joey. To help the joey find the pouch, she will lick a path on her belly. The joey finally emerges from the pouch at about six-and-a-half months.
Yellow-footed rock wallabies can live to 10 years in the wild, and 11 in zoos.
Some of My Neighbors
Wedge-tailed eagles, dingos, carpet pythons, kangaroos, wallaroos, tree kangaroos, and other wallabies
Population Status & Threats
Yellow-footed rock wallabies are considered to be vulnerable to extinction, as somewhere between 50 and 90 percent of their original habitat has declined. The Australian government has listed them as endangered in some areas of their habitat. Introduced foxes and feral cats are their main predators, and they must also contend with loss of vegetation due to the over-grazing of their range by livestock.
Specifically, in the Flinders Ranges of South Australia yellow-footed rock wallabies are considered vulnerable, in the Gawler Ranges they are considered endangered, and in New South Wales, they are nearing extinction.