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Parma Wallaby (Notamacropus parma)

The parma wallaby is a small, mostly nocturnal wallaby endemic to New South Wales. It occurs in patchy wet and dry eucalypt forests with dense understorey, and may be affected by clearing, fragmentation, fire, grazing and introduced predators on development sites.

Conservation status

Commonwealth, EPBC Act 1999: Vulnerable.

New South Wales, Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016: Vulnerable.

Breeding season

Parma wallabies can breed throughout the year, but births are concentrated from February to June or July. They are mainly nocturnal and have no known long-distance migration.

Month values are January to December. A value of 2 marks the main period, 1 indicates that the activity can occur, and 0 indicates that it is not typical.

  • Breeding: Births occur year-round, with most births from February to June or July.
  • Young: Pouch life is about 30 weeks. Young first make excursions from the pouch at about 23 to 25 weeks, so dependent young may be present throughout the year.
  • Local movement and feeding: The species is mainly nocturnal, moving through dense understorey to feed in grassy patches and forest edges. No seasonal migration is described.
  • Highest clearing risk: Risk is year-round because breeding occurs year-round. February to August is the highest practical risk period because it overlaps the main birth period and the presence of pouch young or newly emerging young. Dense understorey should be checked before clearing in every month.

Identification

The parma wallaby is a small, compact wallaby that is difficult to detect in dense forest. It is most likely to be seen moving from dense cover to grassy edges around dusk or during the night.

The back and shoulders are uniform greyish brown, with a dark stripe along the spine that ends around mid-back. A white stripe runs along the cheek and upper lip, and the throat, chest and belly are pale.

When hopping, the body is held close to the ground, the forearms are tucked tightly against the body and the tail curves upwards in a shallow U-shape.

Head and body: Up to 528 mm

Tail: Up to 54 cm as reported in the assessment

Male weight: Up to 5.9 kg

Female weight: Up to 4.8 kg

Identification: Sex and similar species

Males are larger than females and have a more robust chest and forelimbs.

The species can be confused with pademelons. Pademelons have shorter, stiffer tails, whereas the parma wallaby has a longer tail that curves upwards in a shallow U-shape when it hops.

Identification: Field signs and detection

During the day, look for narrow runways through dense understorey. The species shelters in thick cover and uses these routes when moving between shelter and feeding areas.

At dusk and at night, search the edges of forest clearings and nearby grassy patches. Faecal pellet counts have been investigated as a method for estimating parma wallaby density, but the supplied documents do not provide diagnostic pellet dimensions or track measurements.

The parma wallaby is a solitary marsupial and does not build a nest. No distinctive call, den, hollow or nest feature is described in the supplied documents.

  • Inspect dense shrub cover and its edges before vegetation removal.
  • Check runways leading from dense cover to grassy feeding areas.
  • Use targeted nocturnal searches or remote cameras where daytime searches are unlikely to detect animals.

Distribution: National range

The parma wallaby is endemic to New South Wales. Its current distribution is patchy along the Great Dividing Range and associated escarpments, with a contraction from parts of the northern range.

The species occurs only in New South Wales. It extends from the Olney State Forest area south west of Newcastle to south of the Bruxner Highway between Tenterfield and Casino.

It has been recorded in suitable forests from the Gosford district through central and northern New South Wales. The species formerly occurred farther south, including the Illawarra and near Bega, but is no longer found in coastal forests in those areas.

Distribution: Bioregions and strongholds

NSW profile records identify known or predicted occurrence in the Sydney Basin, NSW North Coast, New England Tablelands and Brigalow Belt South bioregions, with additional mapped areas in South Eastern Queensland. The South Eastern Queensland entries reflect mapped distribution information, but the species is described in the supplied assessment as endemic to New South Wales.

Known or mapped areas include the Gosford and Wyong districts, Wollemi, Yengo, Pittwater, the Barrington and New England areas, Dorrigo, Gibraltar Range, Washpool, the northern escarpments and forests between Tenterfield and Casino.

The Gondwana Rainforests reserves in the Tweed Caldera and other NSW components contain core habitat and much of the species' range. Six sites have been identified as priority management areas under the NSW Saving Our Species program.

Distribution: Population and trend

National population estimate: No robust estimate of population size is available

Post fire decline: Estimated at 24 percent one year after the 2019 to 2020 bushfires, with an 80 percent confidence range of 12 to 35 percent

Projected decline: Estimated at 16 percent over the next three generations after the 2019 to 2020 bushfires, with an 80 percent confidence range of 3 to 35 percent

Fire affected range: The 2019 to 2020 bushfires overlapped an estimated 59 percent of the modelled range

Fire affected records in Gondwana Rainforests: Approximately 75 percent of records and priority management areas in the NSW components were affected by fire

Habitat: Forest types

Parma wallabies favour forest with dense, continuous understorey and access to more open grassy areas. They can occupy wet or dry eucalypt forest and, less often, rainforest.

The preferred habitat is wet sclerophyll or moist eucalypt forest with a thick, shrubby understorey and nearby grassy patches.

The species also occurs in dry sclerophyll or drier eucalypt forest where the understorey is dense, and occasionally in rainforest or along rainforest margins.

Habitat: Structure and setting

Dense shrubs and understorey provide daytime shelter and movement routes. Grassy clearings, forest openings and forest margins provide feeding areas.

Habitat may be occupied, adjacent to known records, or previously occupied. Areas near current records may support natural range expansion, dispersal or future translocation.

  • Retain connected forest understorey between known records and nearby grassy feeding areas.
  • Avoid creating isolated patches of forest by clearing corridors, dense shrub cover or forest margins.
  • Treat recently burnt or structurally open forest as potentially degraded habitat, rather than assuming it is unsuitable.

Habitat: Elevation and distribution limits

The species occurs in suitable forests along the escarpment and Great Dividing Range to about 1000 m above sea level. Upper elevation sites include the Dorrigo Plateau, Gibraltar Range and Barrington Tops.

Recorded upper elevation: About 1000 m above sea level

Foraging habitat: Food and feeding sites

Parma wallabies feed mainly at night in open areas close to dense forest cover. They eat plant material and also consume fungi.

The diet consists mainly of grasses and herbs, with fungi eaten in smaller amounts. Recorded foods include blady grass, tussock grasses and a range of fungi, including below-ground mycorrhizal species.

Animals emerge from shrubs around dusk and feed at the edge of clearings, in grassy patches and in more open eucalypt forest. They are normally solitary, although two animals and rarely three may feed together.

Main foods: Grasses and herbs

Additional food: Fungi, including hypogeous mycorrhizal fungi

Associated grasses: Imperata cylindrica and Rytidosperma species were more common at some occupied sites

Feeding period: Mainly from dusk through the night

Foraging habitat: Foraging area

The only supplied home range estimate is a mean of 5.24 hectares, plus or minus 0.5 hectares, for free-ranging animals on Kawau Island in New Zealand. This is likely to underestimate home range size in Australian forests because Kawau Island is only 20 square kilometres.

No home range estimate is available for New South Wales. For clearing and construction work, retain the connection between dense shelter and nearby grassy feeding areas rather than assessing feeding habitat as isolated clearings.

Kawau Island mean home range: 5.24 hectares, plus or minus 0.5 hectares

Australian home range: Not known

Breeding habitat: Breeding biology

Breeding can occur throughout the year, with most births from February to June or July. Females need dense forest cover for pouch young and nearby feeding habitat as young begin to emerge.

A single young is born after a short gestation. The young remains in the pouch for about 30 weeks and first leaves the pouch at about 23 to 25 weeks.

Breeding habitat is likely to be within the same dense wet or dry forest understorey used for daytime shelter, with nearby grassy feeding areas for the female and emerging young.

Breeding season: Births occur year-round, with most births from February to June or July

Litter size: One young

Gestation: 33 to 36 days

Pouch life: About 30 weeks

First excursions from pouch: About 23 to 25 weeks after birth

Female maturity: About one year

Male maturity: 20 to 24 months

Expected lifespan: About 10 years

Maximum recorded captive lifespan: 15.9 years

Breeding habitat: Breeding habitat on project sites

Dense shrubs and continuous understorey should be treated as potential breeding and dependent young habitat, especially where the cover connects to grassy feeding areas.

Avoid clearing occupied forest and adjacent dense cover during the main birth period where practicable. A spotter catcher should inspect dense vegetation before clearing because females may be difficult to detect during the day and pouch young may not be independently mobile.

  • Search dense understorey at the margins of proposed clearing areas before works begin.
  • Retain connected cover between shelter and feeding areas.
  • Stage clearing away from retained habitat where possible, and inspect animals displaced into remaining cover.

Sheltering habitat: Day shelter and movement cover

The parma wallaby shelters during the day in dense vegetation rather than in a documented burrow, hollow or nest. Thick understorey is also used as a movement network and refuge from predators and fire.

Dense shrubs and thick understorey provide daytime shelter. Animals move through this cover along runways and emerge around dusk to feed.

No specific den, burrow, hollow, nest or shelter dimensions are given in the supplied documents.

  • Inspect dense shrub layers, lantana or other thick vegetation before removal, while recognising that introduced weeds can also degrade habitat.
  • Retain unburnt patches and connected understorey where safe and practicable.
  • Do not rely on open ground searches alone because animals may remain concealed during daylight.

Sheltering habitat: Refuge value after fire

The species is vulnerable during and after fire because it has limited ability to flee, relies on understorey for shelter, prefers long-unburnt vegetation and may be exposed to predators when cover is removed.

High frequency or intense planned burning, and repeated burning of forest margins, can remove the dense undergrowth used as refuge.

  • Map and protect unburnt or lightly burnt dense understorey within and beside work areas.
  • Avoid unnecessary removal of post-fire refuge vegetation.
  • Coordinate hazard reduction work so that a mosaic of vegetation structures remains in occupied habitat.

Threats: Clearing and fragmentation

The main project-related risks are clearing and fragmentation of forest understorey, inappropriate fire, predator access and vehicle strike. Disturbance can increase risk by removing shelter and exposing animals at forest edges.

Historical and current clearing for agriculture, urban development, forestry and rural development has reduced and fragmented the range. Fragmentation can isolate populations and reduce connectivity between occupied forest areas.

Loss of understorey and clearing of forest margins can remove both daytime shelter and access routes to grassy feeding areas.

Distribution in reserves: About 43 percent of the mapped distribution occurs in reserves; the remaining 57 percent occurs in State Forests or on private land

  • Avoid clearing occupied forest, dense understorey and connecting vegetation near known records.
  • Retain corridors between larger forest areas and maintain links to grassy feeding habitat.
  • Use fauna spotter catcher searches before clearing and inspect retained vegetation for displaced animals.

Threats: Fire and post fire exposure

Large, frequent or intense fires can kill animals, remove refuge understorey and reduce habitat quality. The species is also vulnerable after fire because foxes may hunt more effectively in recently burnt areas.

The 2019 to 2020 bushfires affected a large part of the range and were associated with an estimated 24 percent decline one year after fire and a projected 16 percent decline over three generations.

  • Avoid frequent or intense burning in occupied habitat.
  • Retain unburnt refuge patches and dense vegetation during fire management and construction planning.
  • Monitor occupied sites after fire for loss of cover, predator activity and recovery of grassy feeding areas.

Threats: Predators and competing herbivores

European red foxes prey on parma wallabies, particularly where animals feed along grassy edges or roads. Predation pressure may increase after fire or where fragmentation removes dense cover.

Wild dogs and dingoes, feral cats, pigs, horses, cattle and rabbits are also identified as threats. Grazing by stock and introduced herbivores can remove or degrade the understorey and reduce food availability.

  • Manage foxes, wild dogs, cats and other introduced predators around occupied habitat using an approved, targeted programme.
  • Prevent stock and feral herbivores from removing dense understorey or degrading grassy feeding areas.
  • Inspect recently burnt and road edge habitat for increased predator activity.

Threats: Roads, disease and other pressures

Roads and tracks through habitat increase the risk of vehicle strike, particularly where they cross movement routes or run beside forest and grassy edges.

Climate change is expected to increase fire risk and alter habitat. Weed invasion after fire or timber harvesting can change vegetation structure and reduce food availability. Disease and genetic diversity are identified as monitoring priorities, but the supplied documents do not establish a specific disease threat driving population decline.

  • Record vehicle strike locations and consider speed controls, warning signs or other mitigation where a local risk is identified.
  • Control weeds after disturbance without removing retained native understorey.
  • Include disease observations and opportunistic samples in approved monitoring programmes.

Survey methodology: 1. Spotlighting

The parma wallaby is a nocturnal, mostly solitary wallaby that is difficult to detect in dense forest. Targeted survey is most useful where wet or dry sclerophyll forest has a dense understorey, nearby grassy feeding areas, or rainforest margins. The species is endemic to New South Wales, so confirm whether the project is within its current or former NSW range before planning survey work.

Spotlight from dusk into the night, when parma wallabies leave dense cover to feed on grasses and herbs at forest edges and nearby clearings.

Search slowly along habitat edges, forest tracks and runways through dense understorey, while avoiding excessive disturbance to retained habitat.

Record the start and finish time, weather, observer hours, route, habitat type, sighting location and whether the animal was seen feeding, moving or sheltering.

The supplied documents do not specify a required number of spotlighting nights or hours. Set effort using the applicable state survey guideline and increase effort where habitat is dense, patchy or difficult to access.

Survey methodology: 2. Remote cameras

Use motion-sensor cameras at likely movement routes, dense shelter adjacent to grassy feeding areas, and access tracks where direct observation is difficult.

Keep cameras operating through both dusk and night periods, and record deployment dates, active hours, camera spacing, habitat, bait or attractant use, and independent detection events.

Review images for identification features, including the greyish-brown body, dark mid-back stripe, white cheek and upper-lip stripe, white throat and chest, and low, almost horizontal hopping posture.

Remote camera surveys have been used in the northern part of the range, where extensive surveys failed to detect the species after its apparent range contraction. A non-detection must therefore be interpreted with the survey coverage, camera placement and habitat suitability recorded.

Survey methodology: 3. Habitat and sign searches

Map wet sclerophyll forest with thick shrub cover and nearby grassy patches as the primary target habitat, and include suitable dry sclerophyll forest and occasional rainforest habitat in the search area.

Inspect dense understorey for runways, feeding areas and shelter sites, and search adjoining forest edges and grassy patches during the day before nocturnal surveys.

Record habitat that is occupied, apparently suitable but unoccupied, or formerly suitable and now absent, because all three categories may be relevant to species protection and recovery.

Do not rely on a single sign or a single night without considering the species' low density, solitary behaviour, nocturnal activity and patchy distribution.

Survey methodology: Minimum effort and reporting

  • Use the current survey requirements of the relevant NSW authority for threatened fauna and document the method, dates, times, weather, observers, search area, effort and limitations.
  • Survey all suitable habitat within the disturbance footprint and any nearby retained habitat that could be used for shelter, feeding, dispersal or relocation.
  • Treat a suspected sighting as unconfirmed until supported by a clear photograph, diagnostic observation, reliable camera record or capture by an authorised person.
  • Submit confirmed records, including reliable non-detections where requested, to the relevant NSW wildlife database and provide records to the project approval authority.
  • Retain spatial data for habitat, sightings, cameras, tracks, exclusion fencing, captured animals and release sites in the project environmental records.

Before habitat disturbance: Avoid and minimise

Plan the project around the species' dependence on dense understorey and connected forest. Avoid removing occupied habitat, shelter cover, feeding edges and links between habitat patches wherever practicable.

  • Avoid clearing wet sclerophyll forest with thick shrub cover, especially where it adjoins grassy feeding areas.
  • Retain dense understorey, forest edges, runways, unburnt refuges and connected vegetation between occupied or suitable habitat patches.
  • Avoid creating isolated retained patches, because the species is patchily distributed and habitat fragmentation can reduce connectivity between populations.
  • Avoid disturbance to occupied habitat and nearby forest that could support natural range expansion, dispersal or an authorised translocation.
  • Keep works outside areas identified as occupied habitat, former habitat or habitat adjacent to known occurrences wherever the design allows.

Before habitat disturbance: Approvals and project planning

  • Confirm the species' status before works begin: it is listed as Vulnerable under the EPBC Act and in New South Wales.
  • Refer the action under the EPBC Act where it may have a significant impact on this nationally listed species, and comply with any approval conditions.
  • Obtain relevant NSW threatened fauna, clearing, animal handling and rehabilitation approvals before survey, capture, relocation or clearing activities.
  • Prepare a fauna management plan that identifies habitat, survey results, exclusion zones, authorised handlers, machinery controls, release sites, stop-work triggers and reporting requirements.
  • Stage clearing so that retained shelter and escape routes remain available until the spotter catcher confirms that the work area is clear.

Before habitat disturbance: Prepare the site

  • Complete targeted pre-clearance surveys in suitable habitat before disturbance, with nocturnal searches and remote cameras where required by the management plan.
  • Mark exclusion zones around retained forest, dense shrub cover, grassy feeding areas, known sightings, runways and release habitat.
  • Install fauna exclusion fencing only where it will not funnel animals towards roads, machinery, cleared edges or predators, and inspect it daily.
  • Brief all machinery operators and workers on the species' appearance, nocturnal activity, sheltering behaviour and the stop-work procedure.
  • Do not use frequent or intense burning to prepare the site, because loss of dense understorey reduces shelter and may increase exposure to foxes and other predators.

During habitat disturbance: Daily controls

Disturbance must be supervised by an appropriately authorised fauna spotter catcher. The spotter catcher should control the immediate work area, maintain communication with operators and stop work whenever an animal or unsafe habitat condition is detected.

  • Inspect the work area, exclusion fencing and access routes each day before machinery starts.
  • Use a spotter catcher to inspect dense understorey, forest edges, runways, logs, rocks and other shelter before each new section is cleared.
  • Clear progressively in small sections towards retained habitat, where safe, so that animals can move away from machinery without being driven onto roads or into exposed areas.
  • Keep machinery out of retained shelter and release habitat, and prevent workers from chasing, cornering or handling animals without authorisation.
  • Suspend works during conditions that reduce visibility or increase risk, including heavy rain, smoke, fire and unsafe access.

During habitat disturbance: Working with machinery

  • Maintain direct communication between the spotter catcher and each machine operator throughout clearing.
  • Stop machinery immediately when a parma wallaby is seen, when movement is detected in dense cover, or when the operator cannot see the spotter catcher's signal.
  • Remove vegetation in stages and allow the spotter catcher to inspect each felled section before further machinery movement.
  • Do not burn, mulch or crush dense understorey, logs or other shelter until the spotter catcher has checked the material and confirmed that no animal is present.
  • Record the cleared area, machinery used, time of inspection, incidents, delays and any changes to the approved method.

During habitat disturbance: Animal handling and stop work

  • Stop work and establish a quiet exclusion zone if a parma wallaby is found.
  • Allow the animal to move naturally to nearby retained habitat where this can occur safely, and do not pursue it through dense cover.
  • Only an appropriately authorised person may capture, handle, transport or relocate the animal, and handling must follow the relevant permit and animal welfare requirements.
  • Relocate an animal only to nearby suitable retained habitat identified in the fauna management plan, with dense shelter, connected forest and access to grassy feeding areas.
  • Take an injured animal to an authorised wildlife carer or veterinarian as soon as practicable, and record the incident and treatment pathway.
  • Stop work if an animal cannot be safely moved, if additional animals are detected, if the approved exclusion zone is breached, or if clearing exposes a previously unrecorded occupied habitat area.
  • Do not resume work until the spotter catcher and environmental officer have assessed the risk, updated controls if needed and authorised recommencement.

During habitat disturbance: Habitat features and records

  • Inspect and retain dense shrub layers, logs, rocks, leaf litter and other ground cover that provide shelter, even though the species does not depend on tree hollows for breeding.
  • Retain unburnt refuge patches and avoid removing understorey along forest margins, where planned burning or clearing can increase exposure to foxes and other predators.
  • Record every animal, carcass, injury, capture, relocation, escape route, habitat feature removed and stop-work event with coordinates and photographs where safe.
  • Report any death, injury, unapproved clearing, permit breach or unexpected concentration of animals to the project environmental officer and the relevant authority.

After habitat disturbance: Post-clearance checks

Post-clearance work should confirm that no animals remain in the disturbed area and that retained habitat, connectivity and release areas remain functional. Continue controls until the site is stable and approval conditions are met.

  • Complete a final inspection of the cleared footprint, adjoining dense cover, retained habitat edges and exclusion fencing after each staged clearing section.
  • Check areas where understorey, logs or other ground cover were removed for animals that may have remained concealed or become trapped.
  • Maintain fencing, gates and fauna passage controls until the environmental officer confirms that construction risks have ended.
  • Remove temporary fencing only when it will not expose animals to machinery, roads, dogs or other hazards.

After habitat disturbance: Monitoring and reporting

  • Continue targeted spotlighting or camera monitoring where required by the fauna management plan, approval conditions or an unexpected detection during clearing.
  • Compare post-work records with pre-clearance records, including detections, habitat condition, connectivity and predator activity.
  • Report survey results, incidents, relocations, injuries, deaths, corrective actions and compliance with approval conditions to the relevant authority.
  • Submit confirmed sightings and other required records to the relevant NSW wildlife database, with accurate coordinates and the survey method used.
  • Review monitoring results with the project ecologist and change site controls if animals continue to use retained habitat or if new threats are identified.

After habitat disturbance: Offsets and residual impacts

  • Assess residual loss or degradation of occupied or suitable habitat against the EPBC Act approval, NSW requirements and any project-specific offset conditions.
  • Do not treat revegetation or an offset as a substitute for avoiding occupied dense understorey and maintaining connected retained habitat.
  • Use approved offset or conservation measures where impacts cannot be avoided or minimised, and document the location, area, management actions and monitoring requirements.

Rehabilitation actions: Restore habitat structure

Rehabilitation should recreate the structure the species uses for shelter and feeding, rather than planting trees alone. Give priority to connected forest with dense understorey beside grassy feeding areas and protect restored areas from predators, grazing and damaging fire.

  • Re-establish wet or dry sclerophyll forest structure using locally appropriate native eucalypts, shrubs, grasses and herbs from the relevant local vegetation community.
  • Recreate a dense shrub layer and ground cover, because the species shelters in thick understorey and moves through it along runways.
  • Restore forest edges beside grassy patches, allowing animals to feed at dusk and during the night while retaining nearby cover.
  • Reconnect isolated retained patches with native vegetation corridors where practicable, particularly between known or suitable habitat areas.
  • Reinstate salvaged logs, rocks, leaf litter and coarse ground cover where they can provide shelter, while checking the material first for fauna.

Rehabilitation actions: Manage threats

  • Control weeds after fire, clearing and timber works so that vegetation structure and food availability are not reduced.
  • Prevent grazing and habitat degradation by stock, feral horses, cattle, pigs and rabbits in rehabilitation areas.
  • Implement authorised, strategic control of foxes, wild dogs or dingos and feral cats where they threaten retained or restored wallaby habitat.
  • Design fire management to retain dense understorey and unburnt refuge patches, and avoid overly frequent or intense burns in occupied or restored habitat.
  • Use a mosaic of vegetation structures where hazard reduction burning is required, and monitor the species' response to any planned burn.

Rehabilitation actions: Monitoring and success measures

  • Monitor vegetation establishment, shrub cover, grassy feeding areas, connectivity, weed cover, grazing pressure, predator activity and fire impacts.
  • Use repeat spotlighting and remote camera surveys at suitable habitat edges and dense cover, with the same effort and locations recorded where comparisons are intended.
  • Treat successful rehabilitation as retained or restored dense understorey connected to forest, available grassy feeding areas, no unacceptable predator or grazing pressure, and confirmed use by parma wallabies where detection is feasible.
  • Set monitoring duration, inspection frequency and corrective actions in the fauna management plan or approval conditions, because the supplied documents do not prescribe a universal rehabilitation timeframe.

Sources