Quokka

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It's official. The quokka, once described by a Dutch explorer as "a kind of rat", is the world's happiest animal. Darlings of social media and the subject of countless 'selfies' on Rottnest Island, this small wallaby seems to wear a perpetual smile.

But the quokka's fate is nothing to laugh about. Before European settlement it was widely distributed across the southwest of WA, including its offshore islands. Rottnest Island, the holiday destination just off Perth, continues to harbour one of the best known and largest quokka populations. However, mainland populations have dramatically contracted, with their area of occupancy on the mainland possibly halved. The quokka is now restricted to a number of small scattered populations on the mainland, Rottnest and Bald Island, near Albany.

Loss and degradation of its habitat and predation by foxes and feral cats are the causes of the quokka's decline. Its distribution also appears to be affected by climatic factors. And as southwest WA dries due to climate change, there will be more habitat loss at the quokka's expense.

What we're doing

View our projects involving quokkas.

Devastating bushfires spelled disaster for mainland quokkas

A large wildfire that raged across southwest Australia in 2015 devastated a significant population of mainland quokkas. The Northcliffe fire burnt 98,000 hectares, making it the biggest fire Western Australia had experienced since 1960. Since then we've been working with the Department of Parks and Wildlife conducting on-ground surveys to find any surviving quokkas.

Keeping track of surviving quokkas

The good news is that we’ve found animals that have survived in less burnt areas - we’ve captured them on our remote-sensing cameras. Now we'll be controlling foxes and cats to protect them.

Monitoring quokkas long-term

Understanding what is limiting quokka recovery within the burnt area could hold clues to how they'll fare during the more frequent and intense wildfires predicted in a drying climate. To learn about the impact of these fires and to assist in future management, we’ll continue to monitor quokkas over the long-term.

Quokka (setonix brachyurus), Rottnest Island, Western Australia © Bluebottle Films / WWF-Aus

Why it matters

Quokkas are attractive and inquisitive creatures. They’re also beautifully adapted to the unpredictable Australian environment.

The quokka clan makes its home in swamps and scrublands, tunnelling through the brush to create shelters and emerging at night to eat grasses, leaves, roots and seeds. When water is scarce, this little wallaby dines on water-storing succulents. It also has a remarkable ability to regulate its body temperature, coping when the mercury reaches as high as 44°C. If vegetation is scarce, it can even climb a small tree to snatch a tasty leaf, plus it stores fat in its short tail.

A wily survivor it may be, but the quokka is no match for landclearing or foxes and feral cats. Without human intervention, it faces an uncertain future. It would be a travesty if one of the first Australian mammals seen by Europeans were to be lost on our watch.

Setonix brachyurus

Species Bio

Common Name

Quokka

Scientific Name

Setonix brachyurus

Stats

Body weight ranges between 2.7-4.2 kg Head and body length is 400-540 mm.

Status

Listed as Vulnerable (EPBC Act 1999 and IUCN Red List).

The quokka is known to the Aboriginal Noongar people of southwest WA by a range of names including ban-gup, bungeup and quak –a.

Threats

Introduced predators

Tree-clearing

Global warming

Introduced predators (the fox and feral cat) and landclearing are responsible for the decline of the quokka. On islands where these pests have been excluded, quokka populations have remained healthy. But even on Rottnest Island, a Class A reserve, refuge is threatened by tourist development, and quokkas are being exposed to human disease and poor diets.

Landclearing has robbed them of much of their preferred densely vegetated habitat, forcing quokkas into fragmented pockets. With mainland populations shrinking and becoming more isolated, fire and disease also loom as larger threats.

Although highly adaptable and tolerant of warmer temperatures, it’s not clear how the quokka will cope with the drying trends and wildfires associated with climate change. Clans commonly cluster around dense streamside vegetation and swamps that may not survive as our continent warms.

What you can do to help

Find out if quokkas or other threatened wildlife live near you using WWF-Australia’s ‘My Backyard’ tool, and

learn how you can help them thrive again.

DISCOVER WHO LIVES IN YOUR BACKYARD

What we're doing

Devastating bushfires spelled disaster for mainland quokkas

Keeping track of surviving quokkas

Monitoring quokkas long-term

Why it matters

Setonix brachyurus

Common Name

Scientific Name

Stats

Status

Did you know?

Latest resources

Threats

Introduced predators

Tree-clearing

Global warming

What you can do to help

Recommended reading

Chokka quokka lifeline

The missing quokkas

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What we're doing

Devastating bushfires spelled disaster for mainland quokkas

Keeping track of surviving quokkas

Monitoring quokkas long-term

Why it matters

Setonix brachyurus

Common Name

Scientific Name

Stats

Status

Did you know?

Latest resources

Threats

Introduced predators

Tree-clearing

Global warming

What you can do to help

Recommended reading

Chokka quokka lifeline

The missing quokkas

Make a donation

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