Working with Tammar Wallabies (Macropus eugenii)

INTRODUCTION

It requires practice to become adept at catching and handling tammar wallabies (Macropus eugenii). Although generally not aggressive, tammars do scratch and can also bite. Once caught, tammars will stay quiet in their sacks for several hours. Take care that sacked animals do not overheat by ensuring that they are not left in the sun or piled on top of each other. To avoid the risk of heat stress, do not catch animals when air temperatures are above 25°C. Once handling techniques for adult animals are mastered, procedures such as vaccinations and checking for pouch young (PY) are easily performed, as described in this protocol. Methods for sexing, aging, and handling PY, as well as euthanasia of PY, are also detailed in this protocol. Once removed from the pouch, PY must be kept warm, because they lack the ability to thermoregulate until they are ~6 mo old.