Featherdale Wildlife Park

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Agile Wallaby

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Agile Wallaby - Featherdale Wildlife Park.

Diet and feeding:
The Agile Wallaby is quite a holistic diner. In addition to grazing on native grasses, sometimes when food on the surface is less plentiful this species will dig up the grasses that it would normally graze on and eat the rootstock as well. As well as grass and roots, the Agile Wallaby will dine on the foliage and bark of native plants and trees. Where this species is found, the middle of the day is quite unbearable and subsequently the Agile Wallaby rests in the shade at this time preferring to feed in the early morning or late afternoon.

Habitat:
Unlike many other Australian animals, this species is extremely common and occurs in great numbers in the right habitat. The Agile Wallaby inhabits the coastal plains of tropical Australia and southern Papua New Guinea. This species is aptly named, because when moving around their rugged, open habitat, these animals are almost impossible to catch.

Reproduction:
Before a male Agile Wallaby can mate with a female, he must impress her with his size and the colour of his chest. Before a male reaches sexual maturity, he will spend the first few years of his life like a body builder, making sure to eat enough food that in the same period of time, he will grow twice as much as a female would. When he reaches sexual maturity, his chest will start to turn red as a sign of his virility. As he gets older, the colour of his chest will continue to intensify. This will advertise to any curious females that he is a mature male and has managed to survive longer than anyone whose chest is less colourful.

Once a male has successfully impressed a female and chased off his rivals, he will mate with her and leave. Following this, the Agile Wallaby reproduces like all other marsupials by giving birth to a single tiny, blind and furless young. This can occur at any time of year providing that the conditions are right and the timing is entirely controlled by the female. If conditions are unfavourable she can freeze her embryo at its current stage of development until conditions suit. This process is called 'Embryonic diapause' and occurs in over 100 species of mammal across the globe but is particularly common in marsupials.

Following the birth of her young, the female will provide milk for her joey in her pouch until it is 8 months of age.



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