Wallaby - 'Wentz'

This is WENTZ, a Wallaby. Wentz was handpicked for our program; she is named after the Wentz family of Oroville, who helped finance her arrival and the building of her enclosure. Wentz fell out of her mother’s pouch two months early, and remained outside the pouch. She is now a 5 year old wallaby and weighs about 38 pounds.

The terms of wallaby, wallaroo and kangaroo indicate general body size of various species of kangaroo, with wallabies being the smallest. Macropus eugenii are a very social species. They socialize, feed, and mate in "mobs" or groups of individuals with a hierarchial structure. Wallabies are gray or brown in color. They have a stout, elongated tail, very large hind legs and feet, and small forepaws. The animal uses its long tail as a prop when standing and as a means of balance during its leaps. The wallaby's long head tapers to a rounded muzzle; its ears are large, long and deerlike. A female wallaby is called a "flyer," a male is called a "boomer," and the baby is called a "joey." They are primarily nocturnal animals. Natural enemies are dingos and birds of prey.

They are marsupials, meaning they carry their young in a pouch. Marsupials have a different reproductive system from most other mammals, and they give birth to young that are very incompletely developed. At birth the young are very tiny (0.05 oz., about the size of a jelly bean), and must make their own way to the pouch, where they attach to a teat and begin suckling. They continue development while attached to the mother's teats. The period of attachment (usually about 6 months) lasts until the young have fully developed their internal organs. A female that is nursing a joey in her pouch may also have a dormant embryo in her uterus. Then, when the joey stops nursing, the embryo will resume its development.

Various species of wallabies live throughout Australia, Tasmania, New Guinea, and some of the neighboring islands. Our Tammar Wallaby, however, is found in Southern Australia and several offshore islands. They prefer dense forest with thick vegetation, but will also live in open grassy plains and rocky hillsides. They eat grass, leaves, seeds and other vegetation.