Management program for the agile wallaby

Download the Management program for the agile wallaby at East Point Reserve, Darwin.

The agile wallaby has become an iconic animal to residents and visitors of Darwin in the
Northern Territory. The Darwin City Council manages the abundant and accessible wallaby
population at East Point Reserve, only 5 minutes from the central business district. The Council has been responsible for the management of East Point Reserve since 1984, and consequently the management of the agile wallaby population.

In the last 20 years the wallaby population grew from a few hundred animals to just over 2000 animals in the early 1990s and then back to between 200-300 animals at the end of 2004. The increase in population size was due to improvements in the habitat quality resulting from re-vegetation and rehabilitation works, and caused a number of problems at the Reserve including erosion, damage to native vegetation and collisions with vehicles. The subsequent decrease was caused by a reduction in habitat quality due to removal of the irrigation system, and the current management issue has shifted to risk of small population, and hence the population has become less visible.

The aim of this management program is to ensure the long-term conservation of agile wallabies at East Point Reserve for the public to enjoy. To achieve this Darwin City Council has developed a management program to maintain a viable population that will manage habitat quality, reduce threats to the population, monitor the population and promote public awareness of the agile wallaby. Specifically, Darwin City Council will continue to monitor the size of the agile wallaby population at East Point Reserve using line transect methods, and consider monitoring a sample of marked individuals at East Point Reserve to estimate current levels of survival and fecundity, and how factors such as water availability and habitat quality influence these key parameters.

A database will be established to monitor all dog related agile wallaby mortalities at East Point Reserve. If dogs are responsible for more that 20 deaths per year then more effort will be required to manage the dogs in the Reserve. Finally, the Council will maintain the current weed control program throughout the Reserve and provide information to the general public regarding the management of agile wallabies at East Point Reserve. A review of the management program should be done within five years.