5 FACTS ABOUT THE PARMA WALLABY

More than 2,000 of our Aussie animals and plants are at risk of extinction. Join thousands of Australians who are calling for stronger national nature laws and adequate funding to protect our threatened wildlife and the places they call home.

Parma wallabies, also unofficially known as parmi wallabies, parmigiana wallabies, and, to a small but vocal group of people, schnitzel-with-Napoletana-sauce-and-cheese wallabies, are small nocturnal marsupials native to eastern Australia. 

An incredibly shy species, parma wallabies don’t like to talk about themselves all that often. So, to save them the effort, we’ve put together five fun facts about parma wallabies to help you get to know this incredible pint-sized mammal that calls Australia home. 

1. Parma wallabies are smaller than you might think

Although they are a part of the Macropodidae family, a group of animals named for their large feet, parma wallabies are extremely small. 

At less than one-tenth the size of a red kangaroo, parma wallabies are the smallest member of the Macropodidae family and the smallest Australian wallaby. They’re even smaller than other famously small macropods, like pademelons. 

On average, parma wallabies only grow to be about half a metre in length. When fully grown, they weigh between four and five kilograms which is about the same as a house cat. 

In short… they’re small.

2. Parma wallabies enjoy a midnight feast

Parma wallabies are nocturnal and spend their days sleeping in the dense vegetation of wet sclerophyll forests, which is a fancy name for hard-leaved forests. They are also occasionally found in other types of forests, such as dry sclerophyll forests and rainforests. 

Emerging at night, parma wallabies eat grass and various herbs. The jury is out on whether they also use spices. 

3. Parma wallabies are extremely reclusive

While their quokka cousins appear regularly in selfies on social media, relishing attention and being more than comfortable in large groups of strangers, parma wallabies exist on the opposite end of that spectrum. 

Definitely on the introverted side, parma wallabies are incredibly shy and solitary by nature and, as such, are rarely seen. In fact, if they ever did go to a party, one might imagine they would spend most of their time patting the dog that lives there and hovering near the dips, only to leave without saying goodbye. It’s a valid lifestyle choice—we’re all different. 

Parma wallabies are so shy and reclusive, that up until the mid-60s, it was widely believed that they were extinct as it had been a long time since one had been spotted in the wild. 

Fortunately, in 1967, a population of parma wallabies was discovered just north of Sydney, in Gosford. Phew.

4. Parma wallabies have crossed the ditch 

Prior to being spotted in Gosford, there had been another sighting of parma wallabies. But this earlier spotting didn’t occur in Australia. 

Two years earlier, in 1965, workers on Kawau Island near Auckland, New Zealand, were trying to stop the spread of tammar wallabies, an introduced species and one much more common in Australia.   

It was while trying to control the tammar wallabies that the workers made an incredible discovery. Among the tammar wallabies, they found extraordinarily rare parma wallabies, which, it seemed, had made good use of Australia’s mutually beneficial visa policy with their antipodean cousins. 

Putting the cull on hold, the workers caught the parma wallabies and sent them back to Australia in the hopes that they could be reintroduced to their native soil.

5. Parma wallabies are now on the list of threatened Australian species

Despite being found in New Zealand in 1965—and discovered in Gosford in 1967 - parma wallabies were added to the list of threatened Australian species under the EPBC Act in 2022. They are now listed as Vulnerable. 

Habitat loss and predation by dogs, foxes, and cats, are all contributing to their decreasing numbers.

How can you help the parma wallaby?

Parma wallabies play a crucial role in the health of our ecosystem. Right now, they, like so many of our iconic native animals, are at risk of extinction. If we want to ensure that these tiny, shy wallabies have a future, we must act now.

With your support, we can make a difference and bring our precious threatened Australian animals back from the brink of extinction.

Join us in calling for stronger nature laws and adequate funding to protect our precious wildlife and the places they call home.

Is there a parma wallaby in your local area? Find out using WWF-Australia’s My Backyard Tool and discover what threatened species live near you and what you can do to protect them.