Rare Kawau wallabies keep Aussie trappers on the hop

By ANNE BESTON environment reporter

A team of Australian trappers is having a hard time rounding up a rare species of wallaby on Kawau Island in time to save them from a poisoning programme.

The three-man team has been chasing the brush-tailed rock-wallaby on the Hauraki Gulf island since mid-November, but the timid nature of their quarry and the rough terrain it prefers have hampered their efforts.

Kawau's wallabies, imported by Governor Sir George Grey more than 100 years ago, are regarded as a pest on the island and eradication is due to begin next year.

But the tammar wallaby - some of which have already been sent home - and the brush-tailed rock-wallaby are either extinct or endangered in Australia and their repatriation had caused big excitement back home, said trapping project leader Jim Reside.

"It's been huge, mate," he said. "Everyone has been caught up in the effort to save them from extinction and it's a touch romantic, I guess. It's last-gasp stuff."

The team used baited box traps to capture the animals and had wanted to get the job done by Christmas, but that was now uncertain.

"It's has been tough and slower than expected, but ... it would be a shame not to keep trying because they won't last long," he said.

The brush-tailed rock wallaby is nicknamed "the shadow" in Australia because its timid nature and low numbers mean it is rarely seen.

The Kawau Island female wallabies will be used as surrogate mothers in a special breeding programme designed to speed population recovery. Joeys will be taken from the wild at about 40 days old and fostered by the Kawau females while wild females hopefully begin breeding again almost immediately.

Kawau's wallabies would not be used for breeding yet because it was unclear whether they were genetically identical to Australia's wild brush-tailed rock-wallaby.

Mr Reside thought there were 30-40 animals on Kawau. Six have already been sent home to an enthusiastic if low-key welcome at Waterfall Springs Conservation Park 70km north of Sydney.

Park owner Lloyd Oldfield said the animals were being kept in a 5ha specially built compound.

"The average person in Australia has never seen a brush-tailed rock wallaby, so it doesn't matter which way you look at it, these animals are treasure to us," he said.

The $250,000 conservation project, two years in the planning, and the help given by New Zealand's Department of Conservation and local landowners was hugely appreciated, he said.