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Southern Hairy-nosed Wombat. Photo Graeme Finlayson.
1.
2. Species

WOMBATS

The Koala's closest living relative, wombats are only found in Australia and are
among the largest burrowing mammals in the world.

Wombats are marsupials with brown, tan or grey fur and from their stubby tails
to their large skulls they can measure 1.3m long and weigh 36kg.

Often described as ‘stout’, ‘sturdy’ or ‘powerful’, they’re expert diggers with
short, muscular legs and sharp claws.

> They normally waddle but can run at an impressive 40kph. Weirdest wombat fact?
> They have cube-shaped poo!

Why cubes? Wombats have a very long digestive process that normally takes 14 to
18 days. They have very long digestive tracts, to absorb the most nutrients and
water possible, creating scats that are very dry and compacted.

A Southern Hairy-nosed Wombat. Photo Steve Parish.

There are three subspecies of the Common or Bare-nosed Wombat (Vombatus Ursinus)
– mainland, Tasmanian and Flinders Island.

There are two species of hairy-nosed wombats – the Northern Hairy-nosed
(Lasiorhinus krefftii) and Southern Hairy-nosed (Lasiorhinus latifrons). Neither
of them have hair on their noses, although there’s short hair in their nostrils.

WHERE DO WOMBATS LIVE?

The Northern Hairy-nosed Wombat once had a broad range across the three eastern
mainland Australian states. It’s now critically endangered, restricted to only
two sites in Queensland (including a recent re-introduction) and is considered
one of the rarest mammals in the world.

A Bare-nosed Wombat. Photo Steve Parish.

The Southern Hairy-nosed Wombat is considered Near Threatened and its population
is highly fragmented and declining across semi-arid parts of South Australia,
with just a few records in Western Australia and NSW.

The Bare-nosed or Common Wombat, once widespread throughout southern Australia,
is now found in parts of eastern NSW, Victoria, south-eastern South Australia
and Tasmania. The name implies there are a lot around but in truth they’re in
decline, although they’re listed by the IUCN as a species of Least Concern.

Wombats live in a variety of habitats – forests, alpine mountains, heathlands
and coastal shrublands. The Bare-nosed Wombat prefers wetter forested areas,
whereas the Southern Hairy-nosed Wombat lives in more arid regions.

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WOMBAT BEHAVIOUR

> All wombat species live in burrows, often creating complex networks with
> tunnels and chambers that can extend up to 150m in radius.

Wombats excavate these burrows in well-drained soils, often near creeks and
gullies. They dig soil with the long claws on their forelegs and push it out
with their back legs. They then roll on their sides to dig the walls.

During the breeding season chambers become nests, softened with grass and
leaf-litter. Most wombats are solitary but some burrows can house ten or more
individuals.

Southern Hairy-nosed Wombats on Bon Bon Reserve captured by a remote sensor
camera.

Like their relatives, Koalas, they sleep a lot – around 16 hours a day. They’re
happy to share burrows, but they’re territorial about feeding grounds. They mark
the boundary with scent trails and scats.

Wombats are nocturnal herbivores with fairly poor eyesight – they rely on smell
to navigate and find food. Marking their territory with scats is important to
avoid conflict. When faced with an intruder, they grunt at the wombat, chase and
bite at the ears and rump.

They can travel 3km a night to eat grass, shoots, roots and shrubs (watch some
eating take place below). Like beavers, their incisors are continuously growing,
so they need to gnaw on hardy material like bark to wear down their teeth.

Southern Hairy-nosed Wombats are particularly well-suited to hot weather: they
have a very low metabolic rate (it can take two weeks to digest a meal) and one
of the lowest water requirements of any mammal.

As marsupials, female wombats care for their young in pouches on their
underside. Like Bandicoots, the pouches open backwards so they don’t fill with
soil while digging!

When first born, wombats weigh only one gram. The baby wombat leaves the pouch
at about five months old, and can care for itself at seven months. Wombats can
live up to 26 years in the wild.

A Southern Hairy-nosed Wombat. Photo Bruce Thomson.

THREATS TO WOMBATS

In the past, countless wombats were killed for food, and by pastoralists who
considered them vermin. All species are now protected across Australia, except
in Victoria, where Bare-nosed Wombats are still regarded as an agricultural
pest. Permits are required to control their numbers.

Habitat loss and competition for food with introduced herbivores – rabbits,
cattle, sheep and goats – are now the biggest threats for wombats. Sarcoptic
mange, sometimes spread by foxes and dogs, can also kill entire colonies.

While wombats don’t have many natural predators, they’re eaten by foxes,
dingoes, wild-dogs, eagles, and Tasmanian Devils.

Despite their cuteness, hand-rearing young wombats is a tough task. Photo Graeme
Finlayson.

> Wombats use their tough, thick-skinned rumps as protection: if threatened,
> they escape to their burrow and can crush a predator’s skull between their
> rump and the burrow’s roof.

If startled, they can bowl over and deliver a nasty bite to humans. Best to
admire these waddling wonders from afar!

WHAT’S BUSH HERITAGE DOING?

We’re very proud to have Southern Hairy-nosed Wombats on Bon Bon Reserve in
remote South Australia. At Bon Bon we’ve reduced grazing competition by removing
stock and ripping rabbit warrens. We’ve also set up motion-sensing cameras to
monitor their activity.

Bare-nosed Wombats are found on Scottsdale and our Tasmanian reserves, where
they’re similarly protected.

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WOMBAT STORIES

BLOG 21/02/2022

WHAT’S IN A WOMBAT SCAT & WHY DOES IT MATTER?

Bon Bon Station Reserve is home to what is believed to be the northern most
population of Southern Hairy-nosed Wombats. This population also holds the
distinction of existing in one of the lowest rainfall zones across the species’
distribution, recording an average of just 150 mm annually.

BLOG 26/09/2018

WOMBATS THROUGH TIME AND SPACE

My early days as a wildlife ecologist were spent driving around spotlighting on
the back of a ute in the Murraylands of South Australia, chasing down Southern
Hairy-nosed Wombats to learn what we could about this iconic Australian species.
For me it was a life-shaping experience.

COLOURFUL CREATURES

Download free colouring-in pages featuring the threatened Australian animals
protected on our various conservation reserves. A fantastic way to engage kids
in learning about Australian animals and their habitats. Includes wombats,
cockatoos, dunnarts, Malleefowl, bandicoots, Dingoes, Mulgara, quolls, skinks,
turtles, Tasmanian Devils and many more.

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