Species
Macropus eugenii eugenii
Common Name(s)
Dama wallaby
Family
Macropodidae
Habitat
Dama wallabies inhabit forest margin, or ‘edge’, habitats where they can find cover during the day and graze at night.
They feed on grasses, manuka and kanuka, kamahi, mahoe, hangehange, pigeonwood, supplejack, rangiora and broadleaf. In exotic forests, dama tend to concentrate on grasses and weeds, but also damage young seedlings.
Similar Species
Macropus dorsali, Macropus parma, Macropus rufogriseus rufogriseus, Petrogale penicillata and Wallabia bicolour
Threat To Plants
Browsing of palatable species (e.g. Coprosma grandifolia, C. robusta, Fuchsia excorticata, Geniostoma rupestre, Pseudopanax arboreus, Schefflera digitata), which may alter the vegetation composition and regeneration of these species
Distribution
Kawau Island, Rotorua District (Rotorua lakes); also south of Rainbow Mountain, south Paeroa Range to Waikato River and south-west of Mount Ngongotaha to southern Mamaku Range
Measurements
Height: 0.5m, weight 5-7kg
Year Introduced
1870s
Reason For Introduction
Curiosity
Colonisation History
First introduced to New Zealand on Kawau Island in the 1870s by George Grey, and around the southern end of Lake Okareka (Rotorua) in 1912. They soon extended their range to the north and east, and were first recorded in the Waikato Region during the 1950s.
Control Options
Shooting is one of the best methods for private land owners wanting to undertake wallaby control. Night shooting is effective, provided it is carried out safely and intermittently. Dama wallabies, as with possums, can become ‘gun-shy’ and wary of spotlights. Shooting during the late afternoon can be effective when wallaby are grazing.