Species Spotlight: Wombats
Species spotlight:
Jack and Jill went down the hill to poop out loads of cubes. Find out what happens in the rest of this unusual nursery rhyme...
Names & Nicknames: Wombats or the bulldozers of the bush. Male wombats are known as Jacks and females are known as Jills.
Size: The Common Wombat holds the highly illustrious title of the largest burrowing herbivore in the world. It can grow over a metre in length and weigh almost 40kg. The other two species aren't far behind, being just a little smaller, sort of like an extra chunky bulldog.
Smell: Wombats have a keen sense of smell and may use it to avoid their main predator, the dingo. They also use smell to communicate, leaving scent trails for other wombats to pick up on by squirting a bit of brownish liquid from a special scent gland in their bum. For more facts about brown stuff that comes from their bum, read on.
Communication: Wombats don’t have the best eyesight, so alongside smells (see above) they also use sounds for communication. These can range from an aggressive ‘chikker chikker’ to a low growl or even a soft ‘huh huh’ noise that baby wombats make when they have lost their mum.
Favourite Hangout: The wonderful land of Australia. Where exactly depends on the species of Wombat, with Common Wombats preferring the East and South East coastal regions, including the island of Tasmania, whereas their Southern Hairy-nosed cousins are only found in fragmented pockets in the South. The critically endangered Northern Hairy-nosed Wombat is restricted to only a few inland pockets in the balmy North/Northeast Australia.
Favourite Snack: They are called the bulldozer of the bush for a reason: their love for veggies. These furballs love munching through grasses, plants, roots, bark, and mosses.
Eating Habits: Wombats prefer to do their munching at night when temperatures are cooler. They chomp through huge amounts of veggies with their strong jaws and sharp teeth. Unlike a tasty superfood salad you might see on TikTok, the veggies that wombats eat aren't actually that nutritious. So, to get the most bang for their buck, they have an exceptionally long colon that allows them to extract the maximum goodness.
Toilet Humour: Wombats poo is cubed. No really, they poop out little bricks – up to 100 per night! The unique structure of their intestines is responsible for these little smelly cubes. Who knew Wombats loved Minecraft so much?
Love Language: Wombat love can be… intense. During courtship, Wombats will chase, claw at and bite each other. The females especially like to go for a big bite on the bum of the male. Why not?
If you see them: Despite their chunky, lovable appearance, Wombats can move surprisingly quick when they want to, up to 40 kilometres per hour in fact. So while they may seem cute and cuddly, if you do see one, keep your distance and appreciate that gorgeous behind from a distance!
Red Flags: Climate change, habitat loss, traffic accidents, and persecution. They're also threatened by invasive species such as dogs and foxes eating them. However, dogs and foxes aren't the worst thing that was introduced to Australia for Wombats, that would be mange, a disease thought to have come from European settlers around 200 years ago. It's a skin disease caused by little mites that causes itching, hair loss, and even death.
Epic Journeys: Wombats don't get out much during the day, they're nocturnal, after all, preferring to snooze in their burrows until night falls and it gets cooler. Once the moon is up it's their time to shine, and they can travel up to 3km per night to snaffle all the veggies they can.
Name:
Wombats
Habitat:
Forests, grasslands, mountains, and coastal regions in South and East Australia including Tasmania
Diet:
Herbivores that feed on grasses, plants, roots, bark, and mosses
Size:
Varies by species with the common wombat being the largest but all roughly 32kg in weight and a metre in length
Behaviour:
Generally nocturnal and may be social or solitary depending on the species
Predators:
Main natural predators are Dingos and Tasmanian devils, as well as eagles, owls, and quolls that may feed on young wombats. Non-native dogs and foxes also hunt them
Lifespan:
~15 years in the wild and ~ 30 years in captivity
Threats:
Habitat loss, traffic accidents, invasive species, persecution, climate changes, and a parasitic skin disease called mange
Conservation status:
The common wombat is Least Concern, the Southern Hairy-nosed Wombat is Near Threatened and the Northern Hairy-nosed Wombat is Critically Endangered
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