Most People Will Never See The Elusive Wallaby Colony Hiding In This Hawaiian Valley
Hawaii is not only boundless in natural beauty but it is also a flourishing environment for many unique animals to thrive in the wild, from native species like the Hawaiian monk seal and the Hawaiian green sea turtle to species that have been introduced to the islands over the years, like mongoose and Hawaii Island’s wild cattle. There is one animal, however, that we’re shocked to find in Hawaii: the wallaby.
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Though native to Australia, the brush-tailed rock wallaby has established itself right here on Oahu in a small, but nonetheless established colony, in the heart of Kalihi Valley.
Three of these non-native animals were brought to a private zoo in Honolulu in 1916, but neighborhood dogs attacked. The youngest wallaby was killed, and the remaining male and female escaped into the wild, where nature took its course.
When the wallabies escaped more than a century ago, the state believed they would not be a pest, and they were right. These mini-marsupials stand approximately knee-high and weigh no more than 10 to 15 pounds. They are also herbivorous and eat mostly Christmas berries and other non-native plants.
The wallabies once inhabited an area from Nuuanu to Halawa Valley, though they are not believed only to exist in one small area within Kalihi Valley. No one knows how many wallabies exist on Oahu now, but at one point, there were less than 40.
The state has never had an official management plan for the adorable creatures. Because they are considered threatened in Australia — and there is such great interest in the animals — they are considered off-limits to hunters.
Sightings are rare, and visitors are asked not to look for the wallabies on their own, as they are a delicate population and live primarily on private property. The last reported sighting was just more than a year ago, on Valentine’s Day in 2018 at the Halawa Correctional Facility. Before that, the last official sighting was in the 1990s.
With more than 10 years of experience as a professional writer, Megan holds a degree in Mass Media from her home state of Minnesota. After college, she chose to trade in her winter boots for slippahs and moved to the beautiful island of Oahu, where she has been living for more than five years. She lives on the west side but is constantly taking mini-road trips across the island and visits the neighboring islands whenever she can getaway. She loves hiking, snorkeling, locally-grown coffee, and finding the best acai bowl on Oahu.
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