18/09/2025
Agile Wallaby's of Magnetic Island need a voice of protection, not rumours and innuendo.
Here is a partial report from 2020, further factual evidence will be released soon.
Agile Wallaby of Magnetic Island 🦘🦘🦘❤️
As we await the scientific report to be released on the Agile Wallaby of Magnetic Is, we thought we would show you a simplified map of what the research is all about and why its being done.
There are two beliefs on how the Agile Wallaby got to Magnetic Is.
1. - Someone brought them there before 2004
2. - They came the same way as all other wildlife (except Koalas which were brought to the island which is a safer haven for them for conservation) being when the mainland and island were joined together, and sea level change during the late Pleistocene and Holocene sea-level change approx. 6000 years ago. Since that time, the sea level has remained relatively the same.
The map below shows:
* On left - 3 google pictures showing
1. Queensland (Qld) Eastern Coast, Australia
2. Zoomed in view of where Townsville is to Magnetic Island on the Qld Eastern Coast of Australia, and
3. A further zoomed in view of Townsville to Magnetic Island.
* A photograph from Wikipedia of the Agile Wallaby These pictures are over laid on the larger nautical, semi-oceanographic map. The distance now between the closest points of Magnetic Island and Townsville being approx. 6km, and in some other parts less than 6km. Basically not far at all.
* The numbers on the nautical/semi oceanographic map by gpsnauticalcharts, is the depth of the sea in feet.
In the spring low tides you are still able to walk a good way across Magnetic Is to Townsville except for a short width channel that deepens between 17ft and 10ft deep, depending on which way you go. If you mapped out the lowest sea level route to walk, the deepest it would get is approx. 10ft. A short swim, paddle on surf board or canoe etc.
Note: this is just an example so you get a visual, but we highly recommend NOT walking across as there are sharks and crocs around
Having said all of that, when we go back in history and look at the tectonic plate movement and rise of the sea levels, we find that Townsville (mainland) and Magnetic Is, (among other islands along the Great Barrier Reef on Qld's eastern coastline) were joined for millions of years.
The Agile Wallaby is listed as indigenous and native to Townsville, and you would think that they would be indigenous and native to Magnetic Island, right? But this is where the problems arises.
While the super fast rock climbing Rock Wallaby are classed as native and indigenous to Townsville and Magnetic Island, there is anecdotal stories causing the Agile Wallaby to be listed in some writings as native, but not indigenous to Magnetic Is.
Its a strange situation considering that Magnetic Island is classed as a suburb of Townsville and the science backs that all wildlife (except Koalas) were all on the island at the time of the rise in sea level.
With all this evidence supporting the Agile Wallaby, it is a tragedy to have the Agile Wallaby removed from Magnetic Island. The Agile Wallaby is a very important part of the eco system of Magnetic Island.
To protect the Agile Wallaby and prevent them from being moved from an approx. 3/4 National Park Island in a World Heritage Area that also has buffer areas and freehold land, and a feral dog free island, (only irresponsible dog owner problems on Magnetic Is), to the mainland where the ongoing feral dog problems exist both in urban areas and mountains surrounding Townsville, human encroachment, highways, city etc threats, this scientific research is being conducted.
There is much more to this research, and we look forward to the findings.
Its pretty obvious how the Agile Wallaby's came to Magnetic Island, but what do you think? 🦘🦘🦘❤️
