| Toolache Wallaby[1] | |
|---|---|
| Illustration by John Gould | |
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Infraclass: | Marsupialia |
| Order: | Diprotodontia |
| Family: | Macropodidae |
| Genus: | Macropus |
| Species: | †M. greyi |
| Binomial name | |
| Macropus greyi Waterhouse, 1846 |
|
The Toolache Wallaby or Grey's Wallaby[3] (Macropus greyi) is an extinct species of wallaby from south-eastern South Australia and South-western Victoria. Many people consider it to have been the most elegant, graceful and swift species of kangaroo. It had fine fur with alternating bands of darker and lighter grey across the back. The bands differed in their colour and texture. The marking may have varied seasonally or between individuals. Its hopping consisted on two short hops, then a long one.
The wallaby was gregarious, with groups being loyal to a particular location. Greyhounds were used to chase the wallabies, which never hurried until the dogs got close and then bounded away. One individual was chased on horseback for six kilometres and escaped through a fence. The wallaby was hunted for fur and sport and was affected by pastoralism. It was relatively common until 1910, but was very rare in 1923, with the last known group of 14 inhabiting the Konetta sheep run near Robe. Professor Wood Jones and others failed in attempts to capture wallabies and transfer them to a sanctuary on Kangaroo Island. Four individuals were captured, all dead or dying by being driven too hard; they died from exhaustion and shock. Local hunters harassed wallabies to obtain pelts or trophies. A female, with a young in her pouch, was captured and survived for 12 years in captivity at Robe until 1939. One wallaby may have been captured in 1943. The wallaby became extinct because of hunting, foxes and land clearance.