Conservation
In New South Wales the yellow-footed rock-wallaby was first recorded in 1964 in the Coturaundee Ranges, now part of Mutawintji National Park. The two small mountain ranges in the far west of the state are still the only known places where the species survives in New South Wales.
The habitat of the surviving population is partly on private land, granting inadequate protection for the colonies. Scientists were certain that without immediate action the yellow-footed rock-wallaby would become extinct in New South Wales.
In 1979, the Foundation for National Parks & Wildlife purchased 100 square kilometres of this land, which then became Coturaundee Nature Reserve, for the conservation and protection of the yellow-footed rock-wallaby. Further funds were allocated to fox and goat eradication.
Annual surveys of the area, which is now part of Mutawintji National Park, confirm that the population is now recovering, having grown every year since 1995. There are now between 300 and 400 wallabies.
The recovery strategy that saved the yellow-footed rock-wallaby now serves now as a model to preserve other rock-wallabies including the brush-tailed rock-wallaby from extinction.
Read more about this topic: Yellow-footed Rock-wallaby
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