quokka

quokka, (Setonix brachyurus), medium-sized wallaby native to scrublands, woodlands, and wetlands of the Darling and Stirling ranges along Western Australia’s southwestern coast. Smaller populations also occur on Rottnest Island, near Perth, and on other islands near the Australian mainland. It is the only species in the genus Setonix; however, it is closely related to other groups of wallabies within the kangaroo family, Macropodidae.

Natural history

Although they share a similar appearance, build, and fur coloration (that is, brown and gray) with other groups of wallabies, quokkas are distinguished superficially by their lighter-colored undersides, shorter tails, and pronounced hunched posture. Male quokkas—whose body length ranges from 40 to 54 cm (15.7 to 21.3 inches) and whose weight ranges from 2.7 to 4.5 kg (roughly 6 to 10 pounds)—tend to be larger than females on average.

Quokkas are nocturnal, and they inhabit warm swampy habitats in semiarid landscapes where they feed on vegetation (which includes leaves, grasses, and fleshy parts of succulent plants). Although they feed primarily at ground level, they can also climb trees to access leaves on the branches and escape predators. Quokkas are preyed upon by a mix of native and introduced predators. Native eagles and other birds of prey, dingoes, and snakes hunt them throughout their geographic range (which includes several small coastal islands). Invasive species (such as feral cats, dogs, and foxes), however, have become their most significant predators on the Australian mainland. Additionally, feral pigs (also invasive) threaten quokkas by damaging their habitat.

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The species uses a promiscuous mating strategy, meaning that both sexually mature males and females have multiple mates during a breeding season. Breeding females produce between one and two offspring per year after a relatively short breeding season that runs from January to March. Young may remain with their mother for up to six months before becoming independent. Males reach sexual maturity after about a year, whereas females become able to bear young after eight months. Quokkas may live up to 15 years in the wild.

Conservation status

The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) has listed the quokka as a vulnerable species since 1996. Existing populations, many of which are isolated from one another, are threatened by habitat fragmentation, climate change, and indiscriminate hunting by invasive predators.