# Quokka (*Setonix brachyurus*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/quokka  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The quokka (Setonix brachyurus), also called the Short-tailed wallaby, is a marsupial mammal in the family Macropodidae and the order Diprotodontia. It is a medium-sized, terrestrial, nocturnal herbivore with an adult body mass of 3.25 kg. Gestation lasts 27 days, females have 1 young per litter and 1.4 litters per year, and sexual maturity comes at 368 days (1.0 years). Checklists record it in Australia, and it is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, an IUCN threatened category.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 2.82 kg – 3.25 kg |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Lifespan | 12 years – 13.8 years |
| Diet | Herbivore |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | coastal, forest |
| Gestation | 27 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 1 |
| Age at maturity | 11.4 months – 12.8 months |
| Litters or clutches a year | 1.4 |
| Active | At night (nocturnal) |
| Lifestyle | Terrestrial |
| Conservation status | Vulnerable (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | 1 country |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Mammalia
- order: Diprotodontia
- family: Macropodidae
- genus: Setonix
- species: *Setonix brachyurus* (Quoy & Gaimard, 1830)

Synonyms: *Kangurus brachyurus*

## Countries on record

Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.

Australia

## Common questions

### What kind of animal is a quokka?

The quokka is a marsupial mammal in the family Macropodidae, order Diprotodontia. It is also called the Short-tailed wallaby.

### How heavy is a quokka?

An adult Quokka has a body mass of 3.25 kg, which places it in the medium size class.

### What does a quokka eat?

The quokka is a herbivore.

### Is the quokka endangered?

The quokka is listed as Vulnerable (VU) on the IUCN Red List, which is an IUCN threatened category.

### How long does a quokka live?

The quokka has a lifespan of 12 years, with values up to 13.8 years reported.

### Which countries is the quokka recorded in?

Checklists record the quokka in Australia.

### How many young does a quokka have?

A quokka has 1 young per litter and 1.4 litters per year, after a gestation of 27 days.

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), CC0 1.0, E096-269. Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
- [Catalogue of Life eXtended Release](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), CC BY 4.0, 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
- [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org), per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed), 2026-11-11. Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
- [EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1), CC0 1.0, 1.0. Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), CC BY-SA 4.0, 2026-11-11. Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

Cite as: Quokka (Setonix brachyurus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/quokka