Quokka
The quokka (Setonix brachyurus) is a small, cat-sized wallaby of southwestern Australia, best known from Rottnest Island, where it lives in numbers. It looks as though it is smiling, and is listed as Vulnerable.
The quokka (Setonix brachyurus) is a small, cat-sized wallaby of southwestern Australia, best known from Rottnest Island, where it lives in numbers. It looks as though it is smiling, and is listed as Vulnerable.
🧬 Field Guide Specimen: Open Quokka in the CRV Science Field Guide to log the specimen, see its place among the Mammals lineages in the Cladogram Explorer, and test your recall in the Red List conservation game.
An Island Refuge
On the mainland, quokkas were decimated by introduced foxes and cats and by habitat loss, and they survive there only in small, scattered groups. Rottnest Island, which has no foxes, holds the largest population.
Surviving a Dry Island
Quokkas on Rottnest get little fresh water in summer and rely on moisture in plants. They conserve water and fat, and store fat in the tail. Bushfires can devastate the vegetation.
Look Don't Touch
Visitors take "quokka selfies", but feeding or handling the animals is prohibited because it harms their health and behavior. See Red Kangaroo.
Quokka at a Glance
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Scientific name | Setonix brachyurus |
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Mammalia |
| Order | Diprotodontia |
| Family | Macropodidae |
| Field Guide group | Mammals: Marsupialia (Metatherians) |
| Diagnostic feature (Field Guide) | Cat-sized hopping grazer with a rounded face and short ears; two large forward-pointing lower incisors and fused hind toes. |
| IUCN Red List status | Vulnerable (VU), assessed 2020 |
| Stronghold | Rottnest Island, Western Australia |
See Also
- Red Kangaroo — a larger macropod
- Eastern Quoll — another marsupial saved by islands