Threats to the Robertsdale Wallaby
The Robertsdale wallaby faces innumerable threats today. Historically, wallabies were preyed upon by wolves, buffalo, and cheetahs, but the majority of these animals have also been exterminated from their former range by the same fur hunters that plagued the wallabies. While today the wallaby is no longer hunted for its pelt and rarely used as a hat decoration, it is a frequent victim of road accidents and is frequently poisoned by industrial waste from nearby steel mills and oil refineries, which often coats the grass eaten by the wallabies in carcinogens that may leave the animals infertile, growing extra limbs on their faces or exploding suddenly when exposed to prolonged sunlight or high winds. Wallabies are also a frequent victim of attacks by ferocious feral dogs, uncountable millions of which roam the streets of town, and young animals sometimes fall prey to an unusually aggressive race of black squirrel endemic to the region. The animals are also forced to compete with more adaptable white-tailed deer, opossums and racoons for what little food it can find in its poor habitat.
In particularly harsh winters, snow may bury the wallaby's food out of reach and cause many wallabies to starve. Late season frosts may kill the tender new growth the wallaby needs to refuel its reserves after a hard winter, causing further fatalities. Historically the animals could migrate to new pasture when food is used up or unavailable, but confined to a tiny parcel of land surrounded by cities and industry, the wallaby today has nowhere to go. On many sides high fences have been erected, impenetrable borders the wallaby can not pass. Towards the suburbs the path is obstructed, but the suburbs are a very dangerous place for a wallaby. When the desperate animals attempt to leave the woods and search for food in surrounding neighborhoods, many drown in backyard swimming pools, are poisoned when they eat toxic plants (such as the castor bean plant) grown as ornamentals in backyard gardens, are electrocuted by bug zappers, or are struck and killed by cars or unwatchful children on tricycles. Summer fireworks shows or Whiting's many frightening Halloween displays may frighten the nervous creatures and send them running into fences or falling into ditches filled with sharp rocks, often severely injuring or killing themselves.
However, while these threats are significant, the biggest threat facing the Robertsdale wallaby today, besides rainbows, is ignorance. In a recent survey, only two percent of local citizens (with a margin of error of two percent) were aware of the wallaby's plight. If nobody knows about this majestic but imperiled creature losing its fight for survival in their own backyards, however could they help save it? They cannot, and unless they take the time to learn about this special animal, it will only continue on the pitiful path towards its eventual extinction.