Red-necked wallaby
| Red-necked wallaby and Bennett's wallaby |
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| Bennett's wallaby (M. r. rufogriseus), Bruny Island, Tasmania | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Infraclass: | Marsupialia |
| Order: | Diprotodontia |
| Family: | Macropodidae |
| Genus: | Macropus |
| Species: | M. rufogriseus |
| Binomial name | |
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Macropus rufogriseus (Desmarest, 1817) |
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| Subspecies | |
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M. r. rufogriseus, Bennett's wallaby |
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| Red-necked wallaby range | |
M. r. rufogriseus, Bennett's wallaby
M. r. banksianus, Red-necked wallaby
M. r. fruticus
The red-necked wallaby or Bennett's wallaby (Macropus rufogriseus) is a medium-sized macropod marsupial (wallaby), common in the more temperate and fertile parts of eastern Australia, including Tasmania.
Red-necked wallabies are distinguished by their black nose and paws, white stripe on the upper lip, and grizzled medium grey coat with a reddish wash across the shoulders. They can weigh 13.8 to 18.6 kilograms (30 to 41 lb) and attain a head-body length of 90 centimetres (35 in), although males are generally bigger than females. Red-necked wallabies are very similar in appearance to the Black-striped wallaby, the only difference being that Red-necked wallabies are larger, lack a black stripe down the back, and have softer fur. Red-necked wallabies may live up to 9 years.
Red-necked wallabies are found in coastal scrub and sclerophyll forest throughout coastal and highland eastern Australia, from Bundaberg, Queensland to the South Australian border; in Tasmania and on many of the Bass Strait islands (although it is unclear which of the islands have native populations as opposed to introduced ones); as well as an introduced population in the Canterbury region of New Zealand's South Island. In Tasmania and coastal Queensland, their numbers have expanded over the past 30 years because of a reduction in hunting pressure and the partial clearing of forest to result in a mosaic of pastures where wallabies can feed at night, alongside bushland where they can shelter by day. For reasons not altogether clear, they are less common in Victoria.
Red-necked wallabies are mainly solitary but will gather together when there is an abundance of resources such as food, water or shelter. When they do gather in groups, they have a social hierarchy similar to other wallaby species. A recent study has demonstrated that wallabies, as other social or gregarious mammals, are able to manage conflict via reconciliation, involving the post-conflict reunion, after a fight, of former opponents, which engage in affinitive contacts. Red-necked wallabies are mainly nocturnal. They spend most of the daytime resting.
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Wikipedia