Scientific name:
Thylogale billardierii
Other names:
Rufous-bellied pademelon, Red-bellied Pademelon
Status:
Least Concern
A small to medium sized wallaby with a squat build a short, thick tail. Brown-grey fur with tinges of red around ears and eyes. Males are much larger and more muscular than females, with an average weight of 7kg (but as high as 9kg) as opposed to the females average of 4kg.
mostly short grasses, broad-leafed herbs, shoots and browse, sometimes including nectar-filled flowers.
Dense vegetation adjacent to open patches, including paddocks and gardens. Shelters in rainforests, wet sclerophyll forests, coastal heath and scrub, and gullies in drier forest.
Found right across Tasmania, including Bruny, King and Hunter Islands, and the Furneaux group. Once found along the south coast of Victoria into SA, but has since gone extinct on the mainland.
This is a mostly nocturnal species that also tends to be solitary. However, groups will form at preferred feeding sites. Rarely moves more than 100m away from dense cover, and during the day relies on being hidden more than fleeing danger. Joeys are in the pouch for 7 months, and most are born in early winter (although the species can breed almost year-round). This means they exit the pouch at times when there is plenty of food around.
Home ranges are quite large, at around 170ha and individuals can travel up to 2km per night.
The use of open paddocks for foraging brings Tasmanian pademelons into conflict with farmers. The species may overgraze and prevent seedling eucalypts from growing, and so is sometimes controlled.
Reptile Encounters would like to acknowledge the Wurundjeri people who are the Traditional Custodians of this Land.
We would also like to pay respect to the Elders both past and present of the Kulin Nation and extend that respect to other Indigenous Australians.