Rescued wallaby improves, still getting used to people

Question: What ever happened to the one-eyed wallaby?

Answer: Halawa the wallaby, named for the Oahu region where he was found injured in February, was brought to the Honolulu Zoo for medical treatment and remains there, although not on display to the public.

“Zoo staff continue to work with the wallaby to help it acclimate to people. The wallaby’s health is improving, and the zoo is looking at options to possibly accommodate the wallaby in the zoo,” Honolulu Zoo Director Linda Santos told Kokua Line this week.

The wallaby, likely descended from an imported pair that escaped their owners more than 100 years ago, had been spotted a few times outside the perimeter of the Halawa Correctional Facility before it was caught Feb. 23, according to news reports at the time.

State Department of Agriculture personnel took it that evening to the Honolulu Zoo, whose wildlife experts were considered most able to treat the ailing marsupial. Zoo staff determined the wallaby likely was injured in a fight with another animal and that its right eye could not be saved. On Feb. 26 zoo veterinarian Emma Kaiser performed enucleation, surgery to remove the eye.

At the time, officials said Halawa might remain at the zoo or be transferred to another facility but wouldn’t be returned to the wild. Now it’s clear that Halawa remains at the Honolulu Zoo, but there’s no date set yet for his exhibition.

Q: What kind of animal was it fighting?

A: Probably another wallaby. The rescuers didn’t say for sure, but wallabies are known to kick young males out of the group and to viciously defend territory against those that try to remain or return.

Brush-tailed rock wallabies were introduced to Oahu from Australia in 1916 when a pair of breeding adults escaped from a private zoo in Alewa Heights. The animals, similar to kangaroos, with long bushy tails and small ears, established an elusive population on the rocky cliffs of Kalihi Valley, but authorities aren’t sure how many of their progeny remain.

Oahu’s wallabies are not considered much of an environmental threat, given that their numbers are small and they feed on non-native Christmas berry bushes.

State administrative rules prohibit hunting, killing or possessing brush-tailed rock wallabies, but they can be imported for research and exhibition in municipal zoos, according to previous news reports.

Mahalo

I cannot express enough appreciation to the person who turned in my purse to the clerk at Longs in Kailua on Wednesday. I never put my purse in the cart, but I did this time and I do get rattled when I have my husband waiting for me in the car. This was a huge wake- up call to calm down. It had all identifying information on both of us in it, aside from some cash and credit cards. Auwe. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. — Grateful senior

Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.