Posted in Hawaii February 25, 2019 by

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.
Taylor Boger/Flickr
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.
Michael Dawes/Flickr
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.
Yun Huang Yong/Flickr
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.
Roland Brunner/Flickr
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.
Lennart Tange/Flickr
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.
Michael Dawes/Flickr
There is, however, a video of one of these elusive creatures that was captured by Olin Lagon and uploaded by KHON2 News. Check it out:

Have you ever heard about this elusive wallaby colony on the island of Oahu? What’s your favorite animal you can find in Hawaii?

If you want to see a variety of unique animals on Oahu, head to the Honolulu Zoo.