wallaby

{plural – ‘wallabies’}

wallaby with a joey in its pouch

a kind of animal – mammal – marsupial (= animal whose female has a bag-like skin fold on its abdomen, called ‘pouch’, for the young baby to stay and grow) – four-legged – grass-eating – nocturnal (= active at night) – looks like (resembles) and related to the kangaroos – mostly smaller than a ‘kangaroo’ with grey, brown, red or black soft, thick, woolly fur (coat), cone-shaped head, rounded, straight ears, forward-facing eyes, pointed muzzle (= mouth and nose part), short neck, short front legs with claws, stout body, long hind (back) legs with long four-toed feet with claws, long, round and thick tail; size: the smallest – Tamar wallaby – 1½ feet in length and 3-6 Kg. in weight, and the largest – red-necked wallaby – 6 feet in length and 20-25 Kg. in weight, tail 10-30 inches in length; lives for 9-15 years; about 30 species, found in Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand (introduced) and New Guinea

male ~~ boomer; jack; buck

female ~~ flier; jill; doe

baby ~~ joey

group ~~ mob

voice (call) ~~ hiss, cluck, cough (thump with feet)

home ~~ burrow

movement (motion) ~~ bound, hop

Some common wallabies are: agile wallaby, rock wallaby, hare wallaby, red-necked wallaby, Tamar wallaby, nailtail wallaby, black wallaby, whiptail wallaby

Special Features:

Wallabies are small kangaroos; some species, such as the red-necked wallabies, look so similar to the kangaroos that the ‘red-necked wallabies’ are mistaken for kangaroos.

Wallabies, along with the kangaroos, have been hunted for their meat and skins.

rock wallaby ?

Scientists discovered a species of rock wallaby that has purple fur on its face and neck! (?)

Like the kangaroos, wallabies are also very popular not only in Australia but also in several other countries: Rocko the wallaby is the lead character in the “Rocko’s modern life”, a popular comic and cartoon and TV serial; and the wallaby has been used in the Japanese cartoons (manga)!

The Australian national rugby team is nicknamed ‘wallabies’!

Figures of Speech:

on the wallaby track [said of a person who walks along the country away from cities in search of a job]

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