Creator Gould's Mammals of Australia (1845-1863)

Date 1863

Grey's wallaby or Toolache wallaby (Macropus greyi) is an EXTINCT species of wallaby from southeastern South Australia and southwestern Victoria. A combination of numerous threats caused the decline and eventual extinction of the toolache wallaby. One of the largest factors was the destruction of its habitat. Since swamps were an important part of its habitat, once they were cleared out, much of the vegetation went with it. The introduction of predators such as the European Fox began to kill off the species as well. On top of all this, the animal was also hunted for sport and for its beautiful pelt...Gould found this wallaby, which he called Halmaturus Greyi, 'to be one of the most fleet and agile of its race', inhabiting the seashore, the scrub around lagoons and the sand dunes: 'I never saw anything so swift of foot as is this species: it does not appaear to hurry itself until the dogs have got pretty close, when it bounds away like an antelope, ... leaving the dogs far behind It. I have had twenty runs in a day with four swift dogs and not succeeded in getting one.'

Source: Smithsonian Library