Toolache wallaby

From Freepedia

The toolache wallaby (Macropus greyi) is an extinct species of wallaby from South-western South Australia and South-western Victoria. Many people considered it to be the most elegant, graceful and swift species of kangaroo. It had fine fur with alternating bands of darker and lighter grey across the back. The bands differed in their colour and texture. The marking may have varied seasonally or between individuals. Its hopping consisted on two short hops, then a long one.

The wallaby was gregarious, with groups being loyal to a particular location. Greyhounds were used to chase the wallabies, which never hurroed until the dogs got close and then bounded away. One individual was chased on horseback for six kilometres and escaped through a fence. The wallaby was hunted for fur and sport and was affected by pastoralism. It was relatively common until 1910, but was very rare in 1923, with the last known group of 14 inhabiting the Konetta sheep run near Robe on the South Australian coast. Professor Wood Jones and others failed in attempts to capture wallabies and transfer them to a sancturay on Kangaroo Island. Four individuals were captured, all dead or dying by being driven too hard; they died from exhaustion and shock. Local hunters harassed wallabies to obtain pelts or trophies. A female, with a young in her pouch, was captured and survived in captivity at Robe until 1939. One wallaby may have been captured in 1943. The wallaby became extinct due to hunting, foxes and land clearance.

Source: 'A Gap in Nature' by Tim Flannery and Peter Schouten (2001), published by William Heinemann