(setonix brachurus)
By: Kiyah Legg
How Well has
the Quokka
Adapted to its
Environment
Vocabulary
1.
2.
3.
Marsupial- a mammal with a pouch
Nocturnal- active at night
Inhabit- live there
Appearance
 Short
coarse brown-grey fur
 Size of a hare
 Small rounded ears
 A black nose at the end of its snout
 Related to the wallaby
This is a Quokka!
Behavior
 Nocturnal
 Gentle
animals
 Can get sick if you feed them human food
 A quokka baby is called a joey
Habitat
 Live
in Australia on Rottnest Island, Bald
Island, and the mainland
 Often live in tall grass near a fresh water
source
 Defended by the dominate males
 About 10,000 quokkas inhabit Rottnest Island
History of Habitat
 In
1969, a Dutch sailor, Willem de Vlaming
traveled to what is now Rottnest Island
 Thought Quokkas were large rats
 Named the island Rattenest (Dutch for rat’s
nest)
 Eventually became Rottnest Island
Diet
Are herbivores
 Leaves, stems, bark, fruits, berries, and
grass
 Feed at night

Threats
Man Made
 Declining population, from human
development
 Visitors have killed quokkas out of cruelty
Natural
 On the mainland-foxes, dogs, and cats
 Developing muscular dystrophy, a disease in
which muscles get damaged and weakened
Adaptations
 Marsupial-
have pouches
 They swallow their food without chewing
 Can store fat in their tails to live off of so they
can live without food or water for a little
 Can climb trees
Conclusion
 Have
adapted very well
 Can live without food or water for a while
 They can climb trees to escape from predators
I Think
 Quokkas will stay around for a while
 because of the above
 Continue to adapt to their environment