Swamp Wallaby, that's a pity.
Marsupials in the United States
- Thread starter Great Argus
- Start date
Swamp Wallaby, that's a pity.
Oh wow... that's a shame.
King of Komodo Dragons
Well-Known Member
I found this a strange reaction as Bennett's wallabies are common in Europe. ZTL lists 39 collections with swamp wallabies.and 590 with Bennett's or red-necked wallabies. 54 collections have Tasmanian red-necked wallabies.
I imagine that was the reason for the response - because Bennett's are very common in American zoos and Swamp Wallabies are not.
There is a small, but dedicated group of facilities committed to keeping rock wallabies. As of two years ago, there were 18 individuals in the AZA, with many in breeding groups- so while not super common, the population could be in much worse shape. There are some younger individuals as well, which is good. Overall, I'm more concerned about the parma population than the rock wallaby population- as I hope the AZA can manage to keep all four wallaby populations going (bennett's, tammar, parma, rock), and while those two are in bad shape, it seems as though the rock wallabies are in a better place than the parmas overall.
So other than lack of interest, what is keeping the Tammar population at stake? Unlike Parma and Yellow-Footed Rock wallabies they are not bound by the ESA with regards to import to the country and transfer between state lines so I can’t see what’s discouraging zoos to participate in any possible breeding program for them.
The tammar wallaby is doing significantly better in the US than either rock or parma wallabies are. Tammars remain an SSP species, and are the second most common wallaby species in the AZA. As of earlier this year, there were 44 tammar wallabies in the AZA- at 13 zoos. In recent years the population has had a slight downward trend, but it remains far better off than either parma or rock wallabies. At least with tammars you have a number of zoos with breeding pairs/groups, unlike the rock wallabies with only three zoos breeding and even worse the parma, which as of 2020 had only three females in the population.
Per USDA there are three facilities left with Rock Wallaby, as follows:
San Antonio - 2 as of Apr 4, 2022
Zoo Tampa - 3 as of Mar 1, 2022
The Living Desert - 6 as of Dec 21, 2021
That leaves us 11 + LD's joey in Aug for a total of 12, barring any other joeys born in the meantime. If the species has much chance, it's gonna be from The Living Desert breeding as best they can.
They're also only kept by AZA, unlike the other three.
King of Komodo Dragons
Well-Known Member
Since when did San Antonio get them back?, last time they were on exhibit was 2016, an electronic dinosaur was in their habitat the last time I was there in 2019.
Who outside the AZA keeps parma wallaby? Not saying they aren't out there, just that I'm not aware of any non-AZA facilities keeping them.
On a non-wallaby marsupial note, @Dhole dude next time you update the holders list, you can add Rosamond Gifford Zoo to the list for feathertail gliders. I saw some on exhibit there yesterday, really cool animals that surprised me by how small they are!
Unclear - I've done some digging and come up empty-handed. I would consider this to possibly be a misidentification as occasionally happens with USDA, but there are no other wallabies anywhere at the zoo that I've found. I'm wondering if they're bts for whatever reason - would account for appearing on USDA but not the ZC species list or the zoo's website and social media.
They occasionally pop up in smaller ranch-type places and in exotic dealers' lists. They're around.
SusScrofa
Well-Known Member
Los Angeles should still have a few as well.
They are an older pair that are now kept behind the scenes in the area on the zoo map labeled "Safari & Adventure Park Future Zoo Expansion" (Zoo Map | San Antonio Zoo). There are several older off-exhibit habitats in this area, and I saw the previously-on-exhibit yellow tail rock wallaby pair this spring when the zoo used this area for a robotic dragons special ticket exhibit.
I was wondering if they might - their USDA is usually spotty. No rock wallabies on their USDA in over half a decade at least.
Ah so my hunch was right, thank you for confirming they're still there.
