Brush-Tailed Bettong

Bettongia penicillata

The brush-tailed bettong (Bettongia penicillata), also known as the woylie, is a small Australian marsupial related to kangaroos and wallabies. It has a compact body, strong hind legs, a pointed face, and a tail with a brush of darker hair near the tip. Once widespread across southern Australia, it is now best known from managed populations and conservation areas. Bettongs dig for fungi, tubers, seeds, and invertebrates, and their foraging can help turn soil and spread fungal spores that support woodland ecosystems.

For brush-tailed bettongs, practical work usually happens inside conservation breeding programs and predator-safe reserves, not private collections. Enclosures and release sites need nocturnal cover, diggable soil, nest material, and feeding that reflects their mix of fungi, underground foods, seeds, and invertebrates. Field programs often combine fencing, fox and cat control, radio tracking, health checks, and genetic planning before releases. Because small marsupial populations can rise or crash quickly, managers watch breeding rates, disease, drought, and predator incursions closely.