Macropus rufogriseus
Class: Mammalia
Order: Diprotodontia
Family: Macropodidae
Length: 75cm
Weight: 15-22kg
Description:
The male weighs between 15 and 22 kg and reaches 90 cm in height. The female weighs between 8 and 15 kg for a height of 75 cm. It is characterized by the black of its nose and the end of its legs, the white band of its lower lip, its graying coat with red highlights on the shoulders.
Origin: Australia
Diet:
it digests cellulose like ruminants (soft hay, vegetables, carrots, various foliage).
Gestation:
A month and a week approximately, the young continues to develop in the marsupial pouch.
The mother cleans the marsupial pouch before giving birth, the embryo, still blind and deaf, destroys its envelope, comes out, crawls on its belly along a trail traced by the mother. As soon as it is in the pouch, it grabs a breast and begins to suckle.
It remains sheltered in this pouch for about 5 months.
Movement:
Wallabies move in small jumps and in case of danger, they can jump quickly.
Average speed: 15 km/h
Top speed: 30 to 40 km/h
High jump: 1.50 meters
Long jump: 6 meters
Distribution:
Outside Australia, and more particularly Tasmania which is the original area, there are groups of Bennett's wallabies in the wild due to human introductions (voluntary or not): in New Zealand, the United Kingdom and France.
Since the 1970s, Bennett's wallabies have been seen in the southern part of the Rambouillet forest, which appear to be breeding in the wild. The Bennett's wallaby is very common in French and European zoos.
