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National Recovery Plan for the Brush-Tailed Rock-Wallaby Petrogale Penicillata

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National Recovery Plan for the Brush-Tailed Rock-Wallaby Petrogale Penicillata National Recovery Plan for the Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby Petrogale penicillata Peter Menkhorst and Emily Hynes Prepared by Peter Menkhorst and Emily Hynes, Department of Sustainability and Environment, East Melbourne. Published by the Victorian Government Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) East Melbourne, November 2011. © State of Victoria Department of Sustainability and Environment 2011 This publication is copyright. No part may be reproduced by any process except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. Authorised by the Victorian Government, 8 Nicholson Street, East Melbourne. ISBN 978-1-74242-488-0 (online) This is a Recovery Plan prepared under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, with the assistance of funding provided by the Australian Government. The Australian Government, in partnership with the Department of Sustainability and Environment Victoria, Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water New South Wales and Department of Environment and Resource Management Queensland, facilitates the development of recovery plans to detail the actions needed for the conservation of threatened native flora and fauna. This Recovery Plan has been developed with the involvement and cooperation of a range of stakeholders, but individual stakeholders have not necessarily committed to undertaking specific actions. The attainment of objectives and the provision of funds may be subject to budgetary and other constraints affecting the parties involved. Proposed actions may be subject to modification over the life of the plan due to changes in knowledge. Disclaimer This publication may be of assistance to you but the State of Victoria and its employees do not guarantee that the publication is without flaw of any kind or is wholly appropriate for your particular purposes and therefore disclaims all liability for any error, loss or other consequence that may arise from you relying on any information in this publication. An electronic version of this document is available on the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts website www.environment.gov.au For more information contact the DSE Customer Service Centre telephone 136 186 Citation: Menkhorst, P. and Hynes, E. 2010. National Recovery Plan for the Brush-tailed Rock- wallaby Petrogale penicillata. Department of Sustainability and Environment, East Melbourne. Cover photograph: Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby Petrogale penicillata by Lucy Clausen © DSE 1 Contents SUMMARY ......................................................................................................................... 3 SPECIES INFORMATION .................................................................................................. 3 DESCRIPTION .................................................................................................................... 3 BIOLOGY AND ECOLOGY .................................................................................................... 3 DISTRIBUTION .................................................................................................................. 4 HABITAT ...........................................................................................................................5 IMPORTANT POPULATIONS ................................................................................................. 6 DECLINE AND THREATS ................................................................................................. 6 RECOVERY INFORMATION ............................................................................................. 9 CURRENT CONSERVATION INITIATIVES ............................................................................... 9 STRATEGY FOR RECOVERY ............................................................................................. 11 RECOVERY OBJECTIVES .................................................................................................. 11 PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION AND EVALUATION ................................................................. 12 RECOVERY ACTIONS ....................................................................................................... 12 IMPLEMENTATION COST ................................................................................................... 12 MANAGEMENT PRACTICES .......................................................................................... 15 BIODIVERSITY BENEFITS .............................................................................................. 15 AFFECTED INTERESTS ................................................................................................. 15 ROLE AND INTERESTS OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLE ..................................................... 16 SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC IMPACTS .............................................................................. 16 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS..................................................................................................... 16 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................. 16 IMPLEMENTATION COSTS AND SCHEDULE ............................................................... 21 APPENDIX 1. DETAIL OF RECOVERY ACTIONS ......................................................... 22 APPENDIX 2 - EXTRALIMITAL POPULATIONS ............................................................. 29 Figure 1. Distribution of the Brush-tailed Rock-Wallaby ..................................................... 4 Table 1. Listed Threatening Processes likely to affect the Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby ........ 9 Table 2. Summary of recovery objectives, performance criteria and actions……………....13 2 Summary The Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby (Petrogale penicillata) is a medium-sized marsupial macropod that was formerly widely distributed in south-eastern Australia, from south-eastern Queensland through eastern and central New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory to western Victoria. It has suffered a widespread decline in range and abundance, with a major range contraction and local extinctions in many areas, especially in the south and west of its distribution. The species now survives mostly on isolated rocky escarpments along the Great Dividing Range from south-eastern Queensland through eastern New South Wales to eastern Victoria. Historical and current threats include hunting, predation, habitat loss, competition with other species and loss of genetic diversity. The Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby is listed as Vulnerable under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. It is also listed as Vulnerable under the Queensland Nature Conservation Act 1992, Endangered under the New South Wales Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995, Endangered under the Australian Capital Territory Nature Conservation Act 1980, and Threatened under the Victorian Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988. This Recovery Plan for the Brush-tailed Rock-Wallaby is the first national recovery plan for the species, and details its distribution, habitat, threats and recovery objectives and actions necessary to ensure its long-term survival. Species Information Description The Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby (Petrogale penicillata Gray 1825) is a medium-sized, stocky wallaby with a head and body length of 53–59 cm and tail length of 51–70 cm for males (slightly smaller for females), and an adult weight of 6–11 kg for males and 5–8 kg for females. Colouration is generally dull brown above, tending to reddish-brown on the rump and to grey on the neck and shoulders, lighter underneath and with darker limbs. The head is darker, with a distinct pale stripe from the upper jaw through the cheek to the base of the ears. Juveniles are more distinctly marked than adults. The posterior third of the tail is distinctively bushy (description from Eldridge & Close 1995). Colour tends to be lighter and tails less bushy in northern populations of Brush-tailed Rock- wallabies, although there is considerable variation in colouring and patterning within and between populations (Bayne 1994), which often allows for individual identification of animals. Biology and Ecology The Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby can breed throughout the year, although usually with a peak of births in autumn (Joblin 1983; Wynd et al. 2006). The gestation period is about 30 days, with permanent pouch emergence occurring at about 204 days, and young are weaned at about 290 days of age (Lee & Ward 1989), although age at weaning can be quite variable (D. Ashworth pers. comm. 2010). Females reach sexual maturity at 18 months and males at 20–24 months (Lee & Ward 1989). Embryonic diapause occurs in this species and females can carry a pouch young while simultaneously suckling a young-at-foot (Wynd et al. 2006). Mortality of young prior to weaning appears to be quite high. In one report from south-eastern Queensland, only 36% of young survived pouch life, with the majority of deaths occurring before the young was established in the pouch, although 26% of young established in the pouch subsequently died before emergence from the pouch. Significantly more of the young born in the autumn birth peak survived to emergence than of those born in summer or spring (Wynd et al. 2006). Diet of the Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby consists mainly of short grasses, with Acacia flowers, forbs, leaves, fruit, bark and fruiting bodies of hypogeal fungi also eaten (Wakefield 1971; Short 1980, 1989; Jarman & Phillips
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