Fun Bridled Nail-tail Wallaby Facts For Kids

The bridled nail-tail wallaby or the bridled nail-tailed wallaby (Onychogalea fraenata) is from the family Macropodidae. It is found in the Taunton Scientific Reserve in the northeastern Australia range. It is in Central Queensland in the city of Dingo. The bridled nail-tail wallaby habitat includes the grassy woodland and Acacia shrubland. The breeding system of these animals is polygynous. Males look for non-estrous females through smell. The males tend to follow the females based on their body weight and a group of males can sometimes gather around a female who is receptive and in such cases, the largest male can be seen defending his chosen female. The gestation period takes place for about 23 days and a single joey is given birth, but if the conditions are appropriate in the wild, two or three young ones are given birth annually. The development of the young one takes place for around four months more in the pouch of the mother.

These wallabies have a white bridle line extending from the back of the neck to almost the end of the tail. There is also a dorsal black line extending from the neck dorsum between the large eyes and scapulae. Males are larger than females in general. The bridled nail-tail wallaby eats mainly grasses and except grasses, and it also feeds on woody browse and forbs.

The bridled nail-tail wallaby is placed under the Vulnerable category of conservation status. Some predators of the bridled nail-tail wallabies are some introduced animals like red foxes, feral cats, and dingoes. The population of this species was considered to be Extinct in the late 19th and start of the 20th century. The 19th-century naturalists have stated that these wallabies were found in Victoria's Murray river area from the central part of New South Wales and Charters towers in Queensland.

It is quite fascinating to explore this bridled nail-tail wallaby (Onychogalea fraenata) and if you are interested, read these wallaby facts and kangaroo rat facts, too.

What type of animal is a bridled nail-tail wallaby?

The bridled nail-tail wallaby (Onychogalea fraenata) is a species of wallaby. There are around 30 species of wallabies.

What class of animal does a bridled nail-tail wallaby belong to?

The bridled nail-tail wallaby is classified under the class Mammalia.

How many bridled nail-tail wallabies are there in the world?

The 2019 estimation of the bridled nail-tail wallaby population states that there were less than 500 mature individuals recorded in the wild and around 2285 in captivity.

Where does a bridled nail-tail wallaby live?

The range of this wallaby is the Taunton Scientific Reserve in northeastern Australia. It is in Central Queensland in the city of Dingo. Wallabies in general are known to be endemic to Australia and New Guinea.

What is a bridled nail-tail wallaby's habitat?

The habitat that the bridled nail-tail wallaby inhabits includes grassy woodland and Acacia shrubland.

Who do bridled nail-tail wallabies live with?

These bridled nail-tail wallabies are known to be shy and solitary animals, but when there is lesser availability of food, these wallabies might form small groups of three or four individuals to graze.

How long does a bridled nail-tail wallaby live?

Not a lot is known about this bridled nail-tail wallaby's lifespan, but it has been recorded that some of them in captivity have lived for about five years.

How do they reproduce?

The reproduction system of this species is polygynous. Males tend to find the non-estrous females through smell. The males tend to follow the females based on their body weight and a group of males can sometimes gather around a female who is receptive and in such cases, the largest male can be seen defending his access for the female, and thus, breeding happens. The copulation can go on for about ninety minutes and sometimes more. The gestation period takes place for about 23 days and it has been recorded that if the conditions are appropriate in the wild, then around three young ones could be raised annually, else a single young is given birth to and as these young ones are altricial at birth, the development of the young one takes place for around four months more in the pouch of the mother. It is unlikely for the male of this species to take part in rearing or taking care of the young one.

What is their conservation status?

The population of this species was considered to be Extinct in the late 19th and start of the 20th century and when it was rediscovered in 1973, it was a part of a captive breeding program. These wallabies are placed under the Vulnerable category of conservation status. There has been a recovery plan put in place to maintain and expand the existing population of the bridled nail-tail wallaby.

The crescent nail-tail wallaby was stated as Extinct in 1956 due to habitat alteration and predation by foxes and cats.

What do bridled nail-tail wallabies look like?

As the name suggests, this wallaby has a white-colored bridle line, and this line extends from the back of the neck to almost the end of the tail. There is also a dorsal black line extending from the neck dorsum between the large eyes and scapulae. There are stripes on the cheek and the cheek stripes are known to be white in color. Males are larger than females in general. The name 'nail-tail' is given because of the horny spur at the tip of the tail and this nail is covered with hair. Two other species of wallabies are known to share the nail-tail feature, that is, the crescent nail-tail wallaby and the northern nail-tail wallaby.

How cute are they?

This animal species is considered quite cute by people because of its appearance and walking style.

How do they communicate?

Not a lot is known about the communication of this species, but it is believed that these animals tend to use scent as a means of communication along with visual and tactile cues.

How big is a bridled nail-tail wallaby?

This species can grow up to 39 in (100 cm) tall. It is shorter than a red kangaroo and a tree kangaroo.

How fast can a bridled nail-tail wallaby move?

The exact moving speed of this species is unknown, but it is believed that wallabies can run at speeds of about 20 mph (32 kph) and can jump around 10 ft (3 m) high.

How much does a bridled nail-tail wallaby weigh?

The weight of this wallaby species is 9-18 lb (4-8 kg).

What are the male and female names of the species?

Females are known as does, whereas, the males are referred to as bucks.

What would you call a baby bridled nail-tail wallaby?

A baby of this species is known as a joey.

What do they eat?

The diet of this species, Onychogalea fraenata, consists mainly of grasses, woody browse, and forbs, and they are preyed upon by dingoes and feral cats.

Are they dangerous?

This species is not considered dangerous to humans.

Would they make a good pet?

Not much is available about this species as pets.

Did you know...

In 1840, John Gould was known to present the Onychogalea fraenata specimen to the Linnean Society of London and in the following year, it was published in the society's journal.

John Gould used to obtain specimens in Australia and scientific examination took place in England.

It was initially named the bridled kangaroo. Some other names of this wallaby include merrin, bridled wallaby, flashjack, bridled nailtail wallaby, bridled nail-tailed wallaby.

During the time of European settlement in Australia, these wallabies were found in the coastline region of eastern Australia and the Great Dividing Range. The 19th-century naturalists have stated that these wallabies were found in the range that includes Victoria's Murray river area from the central part of New South Wales and Charters towers in Queensland.

The bridled nail-tailed wallaby (Onychogalea fraenata) is known to be most active during dusk and night-time. These wallabies sleep during the day in hollow logs near trees and bushes.

As the bridled nail-tail wallabies are shy animals, they tend to escape confrontation and hide in hollow logs or low shrubs and if seen in the open, they tend to be still in order to be not observed.

The bridled nail-tail wallabies have been observed to have a stronger immune system than other macropods and thus, are of great interest to marsupial researchers.

Some predators of the bridled nail-tail wallabies are some introduced animals like red foxes, feral cats, and dingoes.

Are bridled nail-tail wallabies endemic? 

In general, wallabies are known to be native to Australia including the bridled nail-tail wallaby.

How many babies do bridled nail-tail wallabies have? 

The average litter size for these wallabies is one. Usually, only a single offspring is given birth in a year, but if the conditions are fine, then three young ones are produced in a year.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly animal facts for everyone to discover! Learn more about some other mammals from our Corgi German Shepherd mix facts and collared peccary interesting facts for kids.

You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable bridled nail-tail wallaby coloring pages.