ORDER MARSUPIALIA: MARSUPIALS 121 



Similar in size and appearance to M. giganteus, but with some- 

 what coarser fur and showing greater variation in color ; upper parts 

 sooty, sooty gray, rusty brown, or rusty red as a rule rusty brown, 

 with grayish under parts. Head and body, 1230-1400 mm.; tail, 

 970-1000 mm. (Le Souef, 19236, pp. 145, 147.) Size very large, 

 form slender and graceful; tail gray, with terminal portion black; 

 male about one-eighth larger than female. (Lord and Scott, 1924, 

 p. 244). 



"In Van Diemen's Land, among other places, it resorts to the 

 bleak, wet, and frequently snow-capped summit of Mount Welling- 

 ton." In this country it "forms an object of chase, and like the 

 Deer and Fox in England, is hunted with hounds; and twice a week, 

 during the season, the Nimrods of this distant land may be seen, 

 mounted on their fleet steeds, crossing the ferry of the Derwent, at 

 Hobart Town, on their way to the hunting-ground, where they 

 seldom meet without 'finding'." (Gould, 1863, vol. 2, pp. 2-3.) The 

 same author gives (p. 4) an account of a hunt for an old male 

 "Boomer" that led the hounds a chase of 18 miles on land, and then 

 swam in the sea for more than 2 miles before he became exhausted 

 and was killed. He also (p. 2) quotes R. C. Gunn to the effect that 

 while the species may be found in numbers at certain places where 

 food is abundant, yet it is not as a general rule gregarious and does 

 not travel from place to place in flocks. 



Lord (1928, p. 18) gives the following account: 



The Forester Kangaroo formerly roamed over the greater part of Tasmania 

 where conditions were suitable. It frequents, as a rule, more open country 

 than M. ruficollis, and this fact, together with its larger size, is undoubtedly 

 responsible for its decline. At the present time this species is met with only 

 in a few localities in Tasmania. In some instances, the owners of large estates 

 have taken an interest in the animal, and it is owing to the protection thus 

 received that groups of this species exist to-day in certain places in the island. 



In other parts where there are scattered mobs, such as in the extreme 

 North-East of Tasmania, the advance of settlement is having its effect, 

 for although the species is totally protected by law, the fact must be recog- 

 nised that in the more distant country districts it is a matter of extreme 

 difficulty to enforce the game laws. 



Although very much reduced in numbers the Forester Kangaroo does not 

 appear to be in any immediate danger of extinction, particularly if the 

 landowners who have protected it in the past continue to recognise the 

 variety as one worthy of being retained. Again, the species will probably be 

 bred in local zoological gardens, and there is still the further possibility of this 

 and other species being bred on a large scale and made an item of great 

 economic importance to the State. 



More recently R. Boswell writes (in litt., May 13, 1937) that 

 the species, though still wholly protected by law, has now been almost 

 exterminated through excessive hunting. There has been economic 

 exploitation of its hide and flesh. 



