A shot of stress, a bag and being dropped off in the bush might not sound like the ideal way home, but for some wallabies in Far North Queensland it worked out pretty well.

Australia’s first attempt at a mass macropod relocation began in far north Queensland last year, when around 400 agile wallabies were relocated from their home in northern Cairns.

Founder of The Agile Project Shai Ager struggled for a long time to secure funds and permits for her and a group of volunteers to begin the relocation process. She even sued the state government over it.

But, Ms Ager said something had to be done about Trinity Beach’s dangerously large population.

“But there are piles of green grass, so the wallabies think these are the best conditions and continue to breed.”

At one point, local councilor Brett Olds said there were around 1,400 wallabies in the fields around the Trinity Beach sports precinct.

He said population growth has been a problem for years.

“[But] then you have car strikes, dog attacks and all these negative repercussions,” he said.

The very first attempt

Ms Ager said the first round of relocations was a huge success and proved that moving macropod populations to more suitable locations could be done successfully, despite previous evidence to the contrary.

“Before that, we kind of knew that relocation wasn’t working, [but] it’s just because it wasn’t performed in a particular way by people who knew how to deal with the stress and behavior of these animals,” she said.

“My favorite part is the trail cameras – I can actually see the physical photos and videos of the wallabies thriving in the new habitats.”

Next steps

Ms Ager said the first project was largely funded by donations from the community, but now that the group of volunteers had received approval to relocate another 400 wallabies, it was time for local and state governments to step in.

“This time we wanted to set a precedent that a state agency and a consulting organization can fund something like this,” she said.

The $40,000 proposal has now been approved by Cairns Regional Council, which Ms Ager said would cover essential costs, such as stress medication, needles, fuel and some new traps.

Following the success of the first trial, interest in the project has spread nationwide and Ms Ager says she would like to broaden the range of volunteers for the next round.

“I want to give people the opportunity to volunteer for resettlement projects so that they can return to their [home districts] and play it there as well,” she said.

It’s an idea Councilor Brett Olds is also keen on, saying a wallaby advisory committee is looking into the possibility of helping other macropod populations in the area.

“It’s the best result for these wallabies, it gives them half a chance,” he said.

“Because doing nothing or doing a showdown…wasn’t good enough.

Cr Olds said it is also a great model for low cost solutions.

“If the council did it or if the state did it, it would cost hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars,” he said.

The $40,000 given to the wallaby project by the council is said to come from unused funds in a flying fox control program.

Cr Olds said the funds came after around $250,000 to $300,000 was spent on fencing and other projects to control the wallaby population.

Cr Olds said the council would also write to the state government asking them to allocate $20,000 to another project administering contraceptives to the remaining wallaby population.

Ms Ager said with new fencing and a smaller population, contraception should be one of the last steps needed to ensure a manageable population at the Trinity Beach site.