In 1973, a fencing contractor in rural Queensland spotted a bizarre little wallaby hopping across a paddock near the town of Dingo. It had white stripes like a harness, a tiny claw at the tip of its tail, and held its arms in a strange pose like an old wind-up toy. Curious, he described it to his wife. She reached for a Woman’s Day magazine, flipped to a page on extinct animals, and froze. The wallaby in the paddock matched one that hadn’t been seen since the 1930s.
It turned out to be real. A species believed extinct for over 30 years had just made a comeback in a country paddock. And that sighting would kickstart one of Australia’s most remarkable wildlife rescue missions.
From Common to Vanished
The bridled nailtail wallaby once roamed eastern Australia in massive numbers. In 1866, scientists considered it the most common of all small kangaroo types. But after European settlers arrived, everything changed. Feral cats, foxes and wild dogs invaded their habitats. Farmers cleared woodlands. By 1937, the last confirmed sighting was logged, and experts marked them extinct.
For decades, they were nothing more than a memory. Then came the incredible rediscovery on that cattle property, just before it was bulldozed for grazing. The Queensland Government stepped in, purchased the land, and established what is now Taunton National Park. The remaining wild population got a second chance.
Not Out of the Woods Yet
Rediscovery didn’t mean recovery. Decades after their reappearance, bridled nailtails still walk a tightrope between survival and vanishing again. Feral cats especially wreak havoc. These predators find nailtails an easy target, especially the young ones under three kilograms. Researchers found that once the wallabies grow heavier, cats lose interest. But reaching that weight safely in the wild is a massive challenge.
Their odd defence mechanism doesn’t help. Instead of bolting away, bridled nailtails often lie flat on the ground, trying to blend in. This puzzling behaviour might have worked against eagles. It does nothing against sharp-eyed feral cats.
The Secret Weapon: A Nursery with No Nannies
In 2015, a not-for-profit group called Wildmob launched a bold idea. What if baby wallabies could grow up in a safe space just until they were too big for predators? So they built a 14-hectare “nursery” at Avocet Nature Refuge in central Queensland.
The nursery is no ordinary sanctuary. It’s designed to be as hands-off as possible. No cuddles. No bottle-feeding. No human baby-talk. Wallabies stay mostly wild, monitored only by electronic microchips and a clever weighbridge hidden along their path to water. When a juvenile crosses the scale and hits the three-kilo mark, conservationists quietly collect and release it into the wild.
This technique worked. In 2017, Avocet recorded its highest wallaby count ever. The population almost doubled, just by giving youngsters a few extra months of protection.
Tracking and Teaching Them to Fear
Backed by universities and groups like the Australian Geographic Society, scientists also tested whether these nursery-raised wallabies could survive in the wild. Using tiny radio collars, they tracked how the animals behaved after release. At first, the nursery-raised ones were a bit too trusting. They didn’t react quickly to threats. But within weeks, they wised up. They learned to run, hide, and avoid predators just like their wild-born cousins.
This success isn’t just good news for wallabies. It offers hope for other vulnerable Aussie species like koala joeys and Tasmanian devils, which also struggle with predators after release.
Laser Eyes and High-Tech Traps
Back at Taunton National Park, the fight continues on a different front. There, park rangers are pulling out all the high-tech stops. They’re using thermal imaging cameras to track both predators and wallabies. They’ve tested new traps, worked with neighbours to restore native corridors, and maintained relentless cat control programs. Between 2013 and 2014 alone, they removed more than 50 cats.
While completely eradicating cats is impossible, keeping numbers low has been critical. In 2014, the wallaby count at Taunton rose to between 150 and 250. Many of them were healthy juveniles.
A Magazine Reader Saves a Species
Across all sites in Australia, including Scotia Sanctuary and Idalia National Park, the population of bridled nailtail wallabies now tops 3000. Their future still hangs in the balance, but their odds are better than ever.
And it all started because one woman didn’t throw out her Woman’s Day magazine.
