Rare wallaby returns to Australia after half century

In Western Australia, conservationists and the Dambimangari Aboriginal Corporation recently photographed the nabarlek, a rare rock-wallaby, at two locations where it hadn't been scientifically observed in 50 years.

The nabarlek, about the size of a loaf of bread, is endangered due to changing fire patterns and introduced predators. Researchers confirmed the sightings by using camera traps to eliminate similar species, like the short-eared rock-wallaby, and then analysing DNA from scat samples.

The species’ historical range includes parts of northern and northwestern Australia, but it has been rarely seen in recent decades. In the Victoria River District of the Northern Territory, the nabarlek hasn’t been recorded for 170 years, leading scientists to believe it is locally extinct there. The recent discoveries in the Kimberley region of Western Australia are significant because the wallaby had only been documented in a few locations there, mostly from museum specimens collected in the 1950s and 1970s.

These new detections on the lands of the Dambeemangaddee people offer hope for the species’ long-term survival. Scientists now aim to learn more about the Kimberley nabarlek populations, including their size, diet, and genetic makeup, to ensure they are healthy and thriving. They hope to compare these populations to those living on nearby islands.