The Zoo is
CLOSED
for the winter season.
Visit us when we
reopen in April 2010.

Bennett's Wallaby

Scientific Name:	Macropus rufogriseus
Range:	Eastern Australia and Tasmania
Habitat:	Grasslands for feeding and dense vegetation for cover
Natural Diet:	Grasses and shoots
Zoo Diet:	Monkey chow, rabbit pellets, grain, carrots, and apples
Physical Characteristics:	Bennett’s wallabies have an average head and body length of 16 to 39 inches and a tail length of up to 30 inches. They have a brown-grey body with a red nape and red shoulders. Large, muscular hindquarters make them excellent jumpers. A tapered tail acts as a balance while the wallabies are leaping.
Behavior:	Wallabies usually live alone, except for females and their offspring. Wallabies live in the grasslands of Australia where they use their large, flat teeth to grind grasses and plants into food.
Reproduction:	Females have a pouch where the baby, called a joey, lives for its first six to eight weeks of life.
Notes:	While a small kangaroo is called a wallaby, a medium sized kangaroo is called a wallaroo. At the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo, you can see Bennett’s wallabies in the Central Zoo.