| Endangered Species: Wallaby |
Christiansburg Elementary
Submitted by: Kiwi, Grade fifth
Christiansburg, Virginia, USA
 |
| Wallaby |
Why Study This Topic
I want to find out why the wallaby
is endangered, what it eats, who its enemies and friends are and what its
life span is. I also want to learn about the wallaby's young (joeys),
how adult wallabies care for their young, how many wallabies are born in
a litter, and how old they have to be before the joeys live on their own.
I want to know if wallabies mark
their territory, and if they do, how do they do it? I want to know
if they travel in groups or alone and I want to know if wallabies live
in groups.
I would like to find out about
their behavior during times when they've been disturbed or scared.
I would also like to know how many wallabies are left in the world and
how people protect those wallabies.
What Was Already Known
Before I started my research on
this animal, I didn't know very much about the wallaby. I knew it
was similar to a kangaroo, but much smaller. I also knew it was a
herbivore, which means it eats plants, not meat. Some day I
hope that the wallaby won't be endangered.
Search for Information
I searched for information
on the wallaby on the internet, encyclopedia and other resources.
Some of the sites that I went to on the internet were: http://www.indyzoo.com/facts/fact.asp?animal=bennetts%20wallaby,
http://www.scz.org/animals/w/wallaby.html, http://www.blarg.net/~critter/articles/wal_kang/wallaby2.html,
http://www.yahoo.com, http://www.yahoooligans.com and http://www.lycos.com.
I also searched in a book call
Kangaroos
and Other Marsupials. It gave me a lot of information.
Description of Plant or Animal
Some wallabies, depending on what type
of wallaby they are, can be gray and brown with a white stomach.
They can weigh 30-50 pounds and can reach a height of 30 inches. Another
type of wallaby can be black with reddish gold highlights on the chest
and face; they can weigh 30-50 pounds and reach a height of of 28 inches.
All wallabies are marsupials. The
female wallaby has a pouch in which she carries her young. All wallabies
are also macropods, which means "big foot." Wallabies have a triangular
body shape. Most wallabies have powerful tails.
Habitat Requirements
The wallaby is an herbivore, which
means it eats plants and not meat. They eat grass, hay, leaves, bark,
twigs, plus fruits and vegetables. Wallabies, like cows, have more
than one stomach (ructus).
Wallabies drink water, as most
wild animals do. Where they live determines their drinking source.
Some wallabies drink from streams, rivers, lakes, rain water and possibly
dew off the grass.
Wallabies need space to run, shade
in the summer and shelter in the winter. Wallabies that are pets
should be kept in a six-foot fence of welded wire or of chain link fencing.
Hog wire, hog panels or chicken wire should not be used when building a
cage for a wallaby. Also, different types of wallabies need different types
of shelter.
Some wallabies live in Australia,
New Zealand and a few surrounding islands. A colony of wallabies
lives in the northern part of England.
Adaptations
Different types of wallabies can be
prey for different types of animals depending on where they live.
Wallabies in Australia could be prey for dingos. Other wallabies
that live in other places could be eaten by wolves, wild foxes and
more.
Wallabies don't hunt or chase their
food. They're herbivores; they find their food.
Reasons for Endangerment
The wallaby is endangered because of
poaching. Some poachers poach wallabies for fun while others poach
them for their fur. Although it is illegal to poach, people still
do it. I think that there should be firmer laws to prevent poaching.
Restoration Actions
I think that wallabies should be put
in refuges. I also think that wallabies' homes should be preserved and
people should not be able to destroy their habitats.
I think that in the future people
should protect all endangered animals, as well as animals that aren't endangered.
I hope that some day the wallaby won't be endangered, and other animals
won't be endangered either.
What Was Learned
Wallabies live in Australia,
New Zealand, a few surrounding islands, and a colony of Red-necked wallabies
live in the wild in Northern England. The wallabies that live in
Northern England descended from two wallabies that escaped over forty years
ago. Wallabies eat grass, hay, leaves, twigs, fruits and vegetables.
Wallabies need shade in the summer and shelter in the winter.
The wallaby is endangered because
of poaching. Some people poach the wallaby for fun while others poach
them for their fur.
I think that wallabies should be
put in refuges. I also think that wallabies habitats should be preserved.
Conclusions From Research
I love making webpages, but I've never
made a webpage on an animal before. I think it is a wonderful
experience to be able to make a webpage. I also think that people
should be aware of why the wallaby is endangered. One thing that I would
like to see being improved is the laws on poaching. I hope you feel
the same way.
Making a webpage has improved my
computer skills. It has also improved my writing skills. I've
really enjoyed making a webpage.
Bibliography
For some of my research I looked
in a book called Our Wild World of Kangaroos and Other Marsupials.
I looked on page six, page nine, page seventeen and page eighteen. This
was
my favorite book that I used for research.
http://www.blarg.net
http://www.indyzoo.com
http://www.scz.org
http://www.yahoo.com
http://www.yahoooligans.com
http://www.lycos.com
Return to Mammal page.
If you would like to add to these Endangered Species
pages then email your contributions to Christiansburg
Elementary
© copyright 2000
Christiansburg Elementary |
Last updated on January 25,2000
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