The carcass of young female wallaby (perhaps 12-18 months old) was found at the base of Tarrangaua’s driveway near Lovett Bay Wharf on the morning of Friday 30 July. It appeared to have been attacked by a predator, as its throat, most of its jaw and part of its head were missing. We were unable to determine exactly what killed the wallaby, or when and where the attack took place.
The wallaby’s death has been reported to the Northern Beaches Council Animal Management team and National Parks and Wildlife.
While we don’t have hard evidence that the wallaby was killed by a dog (or dogs), at this point a dog attack seems the most likely explanation.
Please ensure that your dog remains under your control at all times, as per the Council regulations. As in, when the dog is off-leash, it remains within the boundaries of your property. And when the dog is not within the boundaries of your property, it remains on-leash.
Editor’s note: National Parks and Wildlife Ranger Luke McSweeney says that while the wallaby carcass would need expert examination to determine how the animal was killed, it is probable given the location that a dog rather than a fox was responsible.
Luke makes the point that with fox baits now in place in Ku-ring-gai National Park (see the NPWS notice for details) dog-owners have even more incentive to keep dogs on-leash. “If a domestic dog does take a bait, there is no antidote and it is lethal,” he says. “The inadvertent killing of a domestic dog (terrible in itself) can also put a critical pest management program at risk of being discontinued, which will have serious negative conservation outcomes for native fauna, particularly threatened species which this control program is designed to protect.”