the Kukui Nut groves and Christmas Berry Trees.
For many years, I thought that these wallabies were just a myth. Only recently have we seen them come out of the forest to forage for food. Two mature brush-tailed rock wallabies escaped August 20, 1916 from the Honolulu, Alewa Heights home of Richard H Trent; they came from Australia for Trent's private zoo, which was “practically a public institution maintained at his personal, private expense for the public's pleasure.” The brush-tailed rock wallaby, native to Australia, was once common throughout that continent; now it’s confined to tiny parts of Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. The Victoria population, in particular, is near extinction. The shy animals have long, bushy tails and small ears; average-size adults weigh between 13 and 18-pounds. Its head and body measure just less than 2 feet long, and its tail is slightly longer. While the wallabies once roamed from Nuʻuanu to Hālawa, they are now known to live in only one valley, the ʻEwa side of Kalihi Valley, which has a series of sheer cliffs and narrow rocky ledges. The last state survey of Kalihi wallabies was in the early-1990s; at the time, the estimated population was as high as 75-animals.