Red-legged Pademelon

Short-tailed, grey-brown wallaby, pale grey to white ventrally with reddish hind legs and sometimes face, forearms and/or neck.

Identification

A medium-sized, short-tailed, grey-brown wallaby that is pale grey to white ventrally with reddish hind legs. The face, forearms and/or neck can also be reddish. It has a pale cheek stripe and a faint horizontal hip stripe. Some individuals have a broad indistinct dark dorsal stripe that runs from the head to the middle of the back. Tail length shorter than body length.

Habitat

Rainforest and adjacent wet sclerophyll forest, also vine thickets.

Distribution

Eastern Australia: more common in the north than southern parts of its range. Also found in southern New Guinea.

Feeding and diet

A solitary and shy species that rarely moves far from dense cover. Active during the day and night within the forest, where it feeds on fallen leaves and fruit. In the north of its range it may move to the forest edge after dark to feed on grasses in more open areas. Home range of 1-4 ha.

Breeding behaviours

Breeds throughout the year. A single young is born after 30 days gestation and attaches to one of four teats in the mother’s pouch, where it spends the next 6 months.