Mammals

Mammal – Marsupial, Family Potoroidae
Bettong is the aboriginal name for small kangaroo and rufous is Latin for red. An adult weighs up to 3kg and stands about 35cm tall. The fur on their back is a distinctive reddish-grey colour, with a silvery white underbelly.

Conservation Status:
Rufous Bettongs once numbered in the millions and were found throughout the entire Murray Darling Basin. They became “Extinct” in Victoria in the early 1900s, with their distribution now significantly reduced to small parts of Queensland and north eastern NSW. The other 3 species of bettong once found in Victoria are also long extinct. The main threats have been feral predation, particularly by red foxes, and habitat loss. 108 Rufous Bettongs were translocated from Warrawong to Mt Rothwell during March to August 2002.

Habitat, Diet & Breeding:
Bettongs prefer open Eucalyptus forests & woodlands that have a good grassy understorey, rather than a dense shrub layer, and they move out onto adjacent grasslands to feed at night. Although bettongs are primarily solitary, their home ranges of about 20ha often overlap with others, and home ranges may vary in size considerably, depending on food availability. In areas of good quality habitat, population densities can equal 1 to 7 individuals per hectare. Bettongs feed on the roots and tubers of a variety of native and exotic plants, the stem bases and seeds of perennial grasses, and many kinds of fungi. They eat insect larvae and play an important role in controlling pest insects like woodborers. They have even been seen eating carrion and chewing bones. Bettongs will drink during extended droughts, but most of their water comes from the metabolism of food.
In the right conditions, bettongs can breed all year round with a gestation of 22-24 days. Young attach to 1 of 4 teats and remain in the pouch for 4 months. The joeys are then at foot for another month before becoming independent. Sexual maturity is normally reached at 1 year, but some females can breed when they are only 5-6 months old, and are able to have up to 3 joeys per year.

Interesting Facts:
During the day, bettongs sleep in spherical nests built of grass (Poa & Stipa sp). They dig shallow depressions next to a grass tussock or fallen timber, line it with grass and weave a dome over the top. The grass stalks are collected with their mouth and forelimbs, rolled into a bundle and carried in their prehensile tail. Each individual will maintain up to 5 or 6 nests over a few hectares, all out of sight from one another. If a predator comes to within a metre or so, the bettong will burst from its nest and directly head to another nest to conceal itself again. The bettong will abandon any nest discovered by predators and build a new one the next night. At Mt Rothwell, nest building behaviour tends to occur in the hours before sunrise, while feeding is their main activity following sunset. As the Rufous Bettong has a prehensile tail, they can’t lean back on it to fight like the larger kangaroos typically do. Instead, a bettong will hiss and cough at its opponent, even stamping a hind foot up and down, but they have to lie down on their side to be able to kick. They bound along very quickly and can jump 4 times their own height.
The bettongs, along with potoroos, bandicoots and pademelons, are considered “forest friends” for the numerous good roles they play in the natural environment. Together, these marsupials act as nature’s fire fighters by keeping the undergrowth down and the fuel load at a minimum, lessening the risk of catastrophic wildfires. By turning over the leaf litter in their search for food and breaking this plant matter down, they aid the detritus cycle to release essential nutrients and form new soil. They help disperse beneficial soil biota, like fungal spores, through the forest. The health of grassy ecosystems is improved as bettongs remove the dead grass thatch to make nests, creating the spaces between the grass tussocks required for other small herbs and wildflowers to grow.