Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 5, Number 3, 1 Malaki 1988 — Naturally Hawaiian [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Naturally Hawaiian

Hawaiian Wallabies?

By Patrick Ching Artist/Environmentalist Bigger than a rabbit, yet smaller than a kangaroo, the elusive rock-wallaby has been hopping about the cliffs and valleys of leeward O'ahu for over 70 years. The population of rock-wallaby in Hawai'i today are direct descendants of a single pair of wallaby that were brought to Hawai'i from Australia and escaped from a private collection on Alewa Heights, O'ahu in 1916. Wallabies are of the order of mammals known as marsupials. Marsupials carry their young in a poueh for a while after they are born. Other members of this order include the kangaroo, the opossum, the koala and the Tasmanian Devil. James (Skip) Lazell, founder of The Conservation Agency, has been coming to Hawaii to study the wallaby here for a number of years. He believes that the wallaby in Hawai'i are different from any wallaby species existing in Australia. He notes differences in markings, bone structure and even blood composition.

When asked why he thinks the wallaby in Hawai'i are different from any species found in Australia, Lazell says, "There are three basic theories to explain this phenomenon: there are those who suggest that the species of wallaby that were brought to Hawai'i over 70 years ago have since become extinct in their homeland of Australia; others will suggest that the wallaby in Hawai'i are a hybrid between two Australian species. The third theory, and the one I believe to be true, is that due to the limited gene pool and the Hawaiian climate and habitat, we are witnessing a case of rapid evolution." Unlike many creatures that have been introduced to Hawai'i by man, the wallaby have had seemingly little or no negative impact on Hawaii's native environment. "What we have here," according to Lavell, "is a truly unique species of wallaby in Hawaii."