Evidence of four new brush-tailed rock-wallabies has been found in the Grampians National Park.
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The sighting raises hopes that a population of the critically endangered species can be reestablished.
The rock-wallabies became locally extinct in the Grampians in 1999, before a recovery team commenced a breeding program. In 2008, the rock-wallaby was re-introduced to the Grampians where Parks Victoria closely monitors and protects the colony by controlling introduced predators such as foxes.
Parks Victoria's environment and heritage team leader Mike Stevens said National parks were critical to providing habitat and protection for Victoria's most threatened native species.
"Partnerships across government, non-government organisations and research institutions are essential for successful conservation programs," he said.
"Recovering our local population of brush-tailed rock-wallabies has been a slow, challenging process, but we are encouraged by finding new animals that have been born and are surviving in the wild."
"We hope that the release of two new males, aided by integrated fox and feral cat control, takes the recovery team closer towards establishing a stable colony and keeps us heading towards the longer-term vision of returning the species back to the Grampians."
The wallabies will soon benefit from additional protection, with large-scale feral cat control commencing in winter 2020, a project funded by the Victorian Government's $33.67 million Biodiversity Response Planning program.
Weighing between 6-8kg and standing around 60cm tall, brushtailed rockwallabies are smaller than most other species of wallaby. As the name suggests, it has a bushy tip on its tail, which provides balance as it traverses a rocky habitat of cliffs, ledges, crevices and caves.
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