THE brush-tailed rock wallaby loves the hills near Kangaroo Valley but facing extinction.

One local group, the Friends of the Brush-tailed Rock Wallaby (FBTRW), is trying to make a difference.

Kangaroo Valley FBTRW president Susan Robertson said work to improve wallaby numbers included on-site cameras and radio tracking equipment to monitor the animal’s movements, captive breeding and fox baiting programs.

“Predation by foxes has most often been cited as the primary threat to the wallaby, as detailed in the NSW Fox Threat Abatement Plan,” she said.

“Brush-tailed rock wallabies are shy and easily disturbed.

“Human disturbance and interference of vegetation - degradation by clearing, weed invasion, diseases, bioclimatic factors, fires, predators and interbreeding has impacted their natural environment.”

Ms Robertson said there were now only about 30 wallabies left in the Shoalhaven area.

“The population has declined by up to 97 per cent in the last 130 years,” she said.

“We need to take extinction and biodiversity loss far more seriously and take greater action to prevent further losses of species and habitats.

“Anything we can do, regardless of how small, will make a difference to the survival of Australian species.”

She said there were many disappointments but so many more rewards when working towards saving a species.

“It is most rewarding and satisfying for all when we know that another joey has survived and is thriving in the wild,” she said.

Around the 1900s countless brush-tailed rock wallabies were killed for their fur.

“In 1908 one fur trader recorded sales of 92,000 skins,” she said.

“These animals are in real need of human support if they are to survive.

“The FBTRW works closely with the National Parks and Wildlife Services to protect this rare species in the Shoalhaven area.”

Ms Robertson said the community could help by keeping pets, particularly cats, contained.

“Become a member of FBTRW. We offer free training, or you can support the wallabies with a tax-deductable donation,” she said.

“Money raised goes towards research, field work, monitoring equipment, education programs, raising awareness, feral animal control and support of the captive breeding program and the recovery plan.

“You can also symbolically adopt an endangered brush-tailed rock wallaby and are offering to pay for local landholders to undertake training which pays for fox baits to put on their properties.”

Ms Robertson said the Shoalhaven brush-tailed rock wallaby’s future is still a long way from being secure, however they are now out of the precarious situation there were in 20 years ago.

For more information or to make a donation visit the FBTRW website www.rockwallaby.org.au or email: btrw@fastrac.net.au.