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Today on Animal Fact Files we’re discussing quokkas. Rottnest Island got its current name from these animals. When they were first seen by European colonizers, quokkas were described as cat-sized rats, and thus the name Rottnest, rat nest, was declared. Quokkas aren't rats, they aren't even rodents, but they have a bald tail like a rat, so I can understand where the confusion came from. These marsupials are some of the smallest living wallabies alive today.

Quokkas really are cat-sized reaching 20 inches (50 cm) long and weighing between 5½  to 9 pounds (2.5 to 4 kg). Males are slightly larger than females, but both sexes have round fluffy ears and a hairless black nose. Some people consider them the "happiest animals on earth" because they look like they're smiling.

The main quokka population is on Rottnest Island, though they also live on Bald Island and mainland Australia where they inhabit the southwest corner of the continent. Here, they live in swampy forests and vegetated wetlands where they have quick access to food, water, and shelter. Quokkas actually depend on fire in their habitat to stimulate new growth. In natural settings, their home range shifts over time and generations to accommodate foraging on new growth caused by fresh fires. Unfortunately, changes in fire management as well as introduced predators threaten the quokka population.

As of this recording, these animals are listed as Vulnerable to extinction. They're greatly impacted by introduced red foxes who limit the marsupials' movement to new growth habitats. Anthropogenic concerns, such as logging and urban expansion also threaten this species. Those living off the mainland, where predators have not been introduced, are more protected. Quokkas are predated by dingos and to a lesser extent feral cats. Owls also take these marsupials if given the opportunity.

Quokkas are nocturnal creatures spending most of their resting hours hiding in thick vegetation. At night, they come out to forage. These mammals are herbivorous and love to snack on leaves and grasses, though populations on islands where fires don't naturally occur, such as Bald Island, predominantly consume succulents! They're like cows and giraffes, chewing their food a first time and then regurgitating it back up to chew a second time before fully digesting it. I think one of my favorite quokka facts is that they can actually climb trees and readily do so to access food!

These animals live in family groups that can number from a dozen to over 100 members in island populations. Still, they're happy to go off and eat on their own if they're able. Who doesn't want to get away for some alone time now and then? They're generally considered non-territorial as home ranges of different groups can overlap, and any hierarchy tends to be based on size. Males will, however, defend females with whom they've bred.

On the mainland, quokkas are reproductive year round and are sometimes even able to produce two babies in a single year. Those living on islands have more defined breeding seasons and reproduce only once, but they have a backup strategy just in case something goes wrong. Right after giving birth, mother quokkas mate again, and a second embryo begins to develop, but pauses while its sibling nurses. If the sibling dies, the embryo continues to grow into a new quokka baby, but, if the sibling lives, the embryo dissolves into the mother. This way the mother is almost guaranteed to have at least one healthy baby each year.

As marsupials, quokka babies are born tiny after only one month's gestation inside their mother's womb. The rest of their development occurs outside the mother in her pouch - even quokka babies are referred to as "joeys!" The infant remains there for six months, growing until it's ready to face the outside world once again. After leaving their mother's pouch at six months of age, the joey will continue to nurse for another two months before becoming fully independent. They reach reproductive maturity around eighteen months of age, and quokkas can live to be a decade old!

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