The Program

The Program Focus

The Brush-tail is one of 16 species of rock-wallabies in Australia and was once found in great abundance across eastern Australia. Long periods of isolation and physical barriers between populations have resulted in three genetically different sub-groups of this species across Victoria, New South Wales and southern Queensland.

The focus of this program is on the southern management unit, which Zoos Victoria refers to as the Victorian group. This population represents the most genetically distinctive population, a result of a long period of separation from other populations.

The goal of the Recovery Program is to secure and expand the existing Brush-tail colonies and re-establish the species at suitable sites in Victoria over the next five years.

The Program Plan

A captive breeding and management program has been developed for the Victorian population. There are as few as 12 Victorian animals remaining in East Gippsland. Healesville Sanctuary obtained its first animal as part of the Brush-tail Recovery Team captive breeding program in April 1996.

The key Recovery Team objectives for the Victorian population of Brush-tailed Rock-wallabies are to:

  1. Prevent the extinction of the Victorian Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby.
  2. Increase the total number of Victorian Brush-tailed Rock-wallabies (both wild and captive) as quickly as possible to at least 50 adult individuals.
  3. Maintain a representative captive population able to contribute effectively to in situ conservation.
  4. Develop a population management plan that assesses the relative merits and costs, in the short-term, of re-introduction to a former site in the Grampians National Park versus supplementation of existing colonies in Gippsland.

Zoos Victoria's Role

Zoos Victoria's key roles in the recovery of this species are to:

  1. Supplement in situ populations through captive breeding for reintroduction. Zoos South Australia, Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve and Waterfall Springs are also involved in this breeding program.
  2. In the event that the wild population continues to decline, Zoos Victoria maintains an insurance population in captivity.