Yellow-footed Rock Wallabies (Petrogale xanthopus) - South Australia

A 600 km trip north of Kangaroo Island placed me at a favoured location to photograph Yellow-footed Rock Wallabies (Petrogale xanthopus).  I’ve been coming to this location for several years and have been excited at watching the population of these threatened small marsupials slowing increasing in number.  

LEFT:  A Yellow Foot, it's spectacular and distinctive fluffed tail showing, sits on a rock in-between feeding.

Hunted by the early settlers for their ornate yellow brown coats, colonies were only observed in a few far flung regions of their former range; the wallabies almost became extinct.  Although hunting has since been made illegal and few if any are actually shot by hunters today, the yellow foots are still in trouble.  Clearing practices and the introduction of feral goats have destroyed much of their former habitat.  Goats are particularly troublesome as they eat the vegetation favoured by the wallabies.  Additionally, the goat’s hard hoofs (no native Australian animals has hard hoofs) destroys the soil structure which increases the likelihood of erosion.  Australian authorities have instigated a campaign against the feral goats and regular aerial culling has reduced goat population numbers which has allowed the wallabies to expand their range to the point that the population is now slowly recovering.

The yellow foots live high on the scree slopes and sleep most of the day in rock overhangs and caves, only migrating to the lower slopes in the late afternoon to spend the evening foraging on vegetation.  In the morning they move upwards onto the scree slopes to avoid one of their natural predators, the Wedge-tailed Eagle.  

LEFT:  Yellow-footed Rock Wallabies enjoy sitting on rocks which is their favoured habitat.

It rarely rains in the arid region, however, when it does the arid region is transformed form a dry arid desert environment to a lush green tapestry of vegetation.  Rain had fell for almost a month before my visit and areas usually devoid of vegetation were carpeted in green.  This increase in available vegetation meant that the wallabies did not have to move to the lower slopes to feed.  Although the recent rain and increase in vegetation will no doubt allow the wallabies to breed thereby adding to the population, it did mean that photographic opportunities were somewhat less than optimal. 

CHALLENGING ENVIRONMENT

Photographing in the wallaby area is very challenging for several reasons.  Dust is a BIG issue and keeping sensors clean is almost impossible when changing lenses.  Another challenge is the actual time that you have available to actually take photographs of the yellow foots.  As mentioned, they live high on the scree slopes and venture down to lower elevation only in the late afternoon, leaving for the scree slopes in the early morning.  The topography of this area is such that the sun drops behind the scree slope in the late afternoon leaving roughly 30-45 minutes in which you can capture the wallabies on "film" before the sun and light is gone.  Likewise, in the morning you have about the same amount of time before the sunlight is too harsh (unless cloudy conditions prevail).

I was keen to shoot portraits, however, sneaking close enough to acquire a full frame portrait was next to impossible on this visit.  There was just too much vegetation around for the wallabies to feed on and as such many of the individuals didn't approach close enough to my hide in the rocks.  So rather than worry them by attemopting to get closer, I concentrated on aquiring several environmental shiots tht depeicted the animals (hopefully with tail) in its rocky environment.

No matter what the photographic result, it's always a pleasure to share some time with the yellow foots watching them as they bound along the rocks at almost supersonic speeds!  This animal receives 10/10 for agility,  flexibility and speed.

Search the archive for addtional Yellow-footed Rock Wallaby images & my blog post in 2009

Wombats, Kangaroos & Young - Tasmania

The last few weeks have brought exceptionally severe weather to the state. High winds, rain and occasional snow have fallen as embedded lows within several; frontal systems cross Tasmania.

The last few days has a seen a break in the weather and I decided to head 4 hours north to spend two days at a favourite location to photograph wombats and kangaroos. At this time of year the young are still in the pouch and my aim was to attempt to secure images of young wombats and Eastern Grey Kangaroos. Of course pre-visualizing what you want in a photograph and actually achieving that are two different animals.

The weather didn’t hold off as anticipated and rain showers crossed frequently during the two days interspersed with periods of sunshine and cloud cover. Personally I enjoy the rain and have never minded being out in the weather photographing wildlife, however, care must be taken with equipment - Canon claims their 1D series cameras and L series lens are waterproof, but I always take precautions and use rain covers when possible. Further, when furry animals are wet they take on a distinctly different appearance to when they are dry and fluffy-like – this is a look I rather like and find endearing.

The area I was located is quite extensive and wildlife can be observed anywhere along a 7 mile stretch of land, which due to the recent torrential rain was totally water-logged almost resembled an inland sea. Once one site, the first task is to actually discover where the animals are and then “hang about” observing them so they become used to your presence. Only then can you approach close enough to capture images. I’m always careful never to approach too close – no photograph is worth disturbing an animal.

Wildlife Prolific

On this short trip, the wildlife was quite prolific. Black Cockatoos flew overhead making their raucous calls and several wombats grazed along the grassy verge. Two mobs of Eastern Grey Kangaroos were easily spotted and within the group there were several females with young. A number of bird species were seen including the large Mountain Duck and the Red-beaked Black Swan. Located in the bracken fern were two species of wallaby – the Tasmanian Paddymellon and the Bennett’s Wallaby. Both animals are very attractive marsupials with distinct facial markings. They inhabit the bracken fern as the new fern growth is one of their favourite food supplies.

My aim, however, was young animals in the pouch, but during the morning I saw very few with young, and of those I did, the young were safely tucked away from harms way in the rearward opening pouch of the mother. Instead, I was content to spend my hours with a mob of Eastern Greys.

 During the hours I spent amougst the "mob" I observed several aspects of behaviour including: grazing, resting, maternal affection, male aggression, sexual excitement, cough rumination and scratching.

At one stage the rain was so heavy, that I stopped photographing and we both looked at each other wondering why we were standing out here in the weather!

I’m always amazed at the speed and agility of kangaroos when they put “their pads to the floor”.  Hopping is a very cost effective method of travel and “roos” can travel vast distances in a relatively short period of time. The photograph lower down was taken when part of the mob decided to move on. The lead kangaroo makes the first move, and the remainder follow. The height these animals were hopping was well in excess of 2.5 meters (10 feet) and the speed was impressive – especially when you take into account they were hopping through and over water roughly 1 foot deep!

Mother Wombat & Following Baby

Earlier, I had observed a female wombat and baby and knew there were “holing” up within a burrow in the general location. All one could do was play the waiting game in the rain! My patience was rewarded, albeit briefly when the mother wombat and baby made an all too brief visit from their burrow to graze on the succulent grass. I knew I would have to be fast if I wanted an image; it was obvious this mother was not taking any chances with her young infant. She was cautious and vigilant and once she saw me began making an immediate bee-line to one of her burrows.

As I had pre-visualized the image I wanted, and knew the location of the main burrow, it was a relatively easy deduction to assume the wombat and baby would bee-line along the top of the mound to reach the entrance to the burrow. I was right! For a brief 10 seconds the wombat was silhouetted on top of the mound with baby in tow.