When I first heard of wombats I thought they were some type of gross maggot-like worm. It wasn’t until I did a little research that I realized how far off I was. Wombats are actually mammals, just like humans, and are further classified as marsupials. The three species of wombats, the northern hairy-nosed wombat, the southern hairy-nosed wombat, and the common wombat, are all nocturnal and native to Australia. They are definitely much more interesting than how I pictured them!
Life cycle
All marsupials give birth to young (called joeys) that are not fully developed yet. Their young then crawl into their parent’s pouch, which only the mother has in most species, and finish developing. Wombat babies usually stay in their mother’s pouch for about 5-6 months before they come out. However, young wombats sometimes crawl back into the pouch to nurse or escape danger after those first 5 months. When they are about 7 months old, the wombats can take care of themselves, but they might stay by their mother for over a year.
Wombats can reproduce once they are 2 years old, and usually breed from September to December. They live about 15 years on average, and up to 20 years in captivity.
Physical Features of All Wombats
Wombats have broad heads along with a short neck and small eyes and ears. Their short legs and claws are good for digging. Much like beavers, their two chisel-like front teeth constantly grow to make up for the wear and tear of eating tough plant material. Wombats are about 1.3 meters long (slightly over 4 ft) and weigh up to 36 kg (about 80 lbs). The female wombats have a pouch to hold their joeys, which is actually positioned backwards so that the opening of the pouch points towards their rear end. This is so dirt doesn’t get into the pouch when the mother is digging. Wombats have very poor eyesight, so they are heavily reliant on their hearing and incredible sense of smell. They can also run up to 40 km/hour (a little less than 25 miles per hour) for short distances. Most interestingly, wombats are the only known species to have cube-shaped waste (see this article on how and why they poop cubes: https://mashable.com/article/wombat-cube-poop-mystery-solved/)
Diet:
Wombats are herbivores that eat grasses (such as wallaby grass), shrubs, tree roots, bark, sedges (a grass-like plant), and forbes (a type of herbaceous plant). They can eat from 3-8 hours each night, traveling up to 3km (a little less than 2 miles) to look for food.
Behavior:
While many wombats share their burrows with others, they are very territorial with their feeding grounds. They mark out their feeding territories by scent trails and waste droppings at the boundaries. They might make short screeching sounds or give chase when another wombat invades their feeding grounds.
A northern hairy-nosed wombat: Northern hairy-nosed wombat - Australian Geographic
The Northern Hairy-Nosed Wombat:
The northern hairy-nosed wombat is the world’s largest burrowing herbivore. They share their burrows with up to 10 other northern hairy-nosed wombats. They eat for about 2 hours per day during the summer and 6 hours in the winter, but they can go for many days without food when there are food shortages. The species population has declined and is now critically endangered. In 2015, the IUCN Red List assessed that there were only 80 mature individuals left, and that number has likely gone down in the years since. They used to be found in Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland, but are now only found in 2 protected sites.
A southern hairy-nosed wombat: Why we need to save the southern hairy-nosed wombat - Australian Geographic
The Southern Hairy-Nosed Wombat
Southern hairy-nosed wombats have grayish tan fur and white patches under their eyes. They share their burrows with several other wombats, just like northern-hairy nosed wombats.
Southern hairy-nosed wombats are found in isolated pockets in the southeast portion of West Australia, the Eyre and York Peninsulas, the Murray Mallee region in South Australia, and southwest New South Wales. They are also protected at Yookamurra and Dakalanta Wildlife Sanctuaries. The populations are highly fragmented, which means that different groups of wombats are separated. The IUCN Red List categorizes southern hairy-nosed wombats as near threatened, as there are only 60,000-130,000 left in the wild. The New South Wales Biodiversity Conservation Act of 2016 sets out a framework for biodiversity conservation, including the protection of southern hairy-nosed wombats (here is a link for an overview on the act: Overview of biodiversity reform | NSW Environment, Energy and Science, and this is a link to the actual document: https://www.legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/act-2016-063#statusinformation).
A Common Wombat: Common Wombat
The Common Wombat (AKA the bare-nosed wombat):
Common wombats are more solitary than the northern and southern hairy-nosed wombats and they do not share their burrows. Bare-nosed wombats are listed under least concern on the IUCN Red List, but the population is declining. They are now found in eastern New South Wales, Victoria, south-east South Australia, and Tasmania.
Importance of Wombats to Ecosystem:
Wombats help the ecosystems by digging. As they burrow, the turned soil helps moisture to sink into the ground which encourages plant life. In addition, some wombats once burrowed into an underground water pool during a drought, which helped other animals to get water.
Threats and Ways to Help
Habitat destruction might be the biggest threat to wombats because it means that the wombats have to compete with eastern grey kangaroos, rabbits, cattle, and many other animals for food. In addition, droughts and wildfires destroy their already lessening food supply. You can try to lessen the amount of goods you use, because a lot of land is taken up for buildings and resources that are used to produce those items. In addition, make sure to dispose of waste properly and try to recycle items.
The second most significant threat to wombats is sarcoptic mange. Mange is a skin disease caused by parasitic mites burrowing into the wombat’s skin. Symptoms of mange in wombats include crusty and itchy skin, fur loss, continuous thirst and hunger, and weakened vision and hearing. Their sense of smell is also affected sometimes. Wombats with mange need more food to keep up with their constant hunger, but their ability to find food is hurt by their failing senses of hearing and smell. This causes mange’s effects on wombats to be devastating. (Here is an article on a wombat that recovered from mange: ‘Significant suffering’: experts call for national plan to save wombats from mange)
Many wombats are also hunted by humans. Their burrows are a nuisance to farmers as they can damage fields and pastures, so some farmers hunt the wombats. Other people hunt wombats simply for sport. Dingoes (a type of wild dog), eagles, Tasmanian devils, and foxes also hunt wombats. Additionally, many wombats are killed by cars.
You can generally help by supporting petitions and other actions taken to protect wombats, especially when they are hunted for sport.
This is an interesting article on Emily Small raising wombats during the pandemic: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/raising-baby-wombats-during-pandemic-lockdown?cmpid=org=ngp::mc=crm-email::src=ngp::cmp=editorial::add=Compass_20201212&rid=F8E85093CB2CEC2265FD38521514CEAD
This is an article on how bushfires are affecting marsupials, including wombats: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/australia-marsupials-struggling-after-fires?cmpid=org=ngp::mc=crm-email::src=ngp::cmp=editorial::add=Compass_20201212&rid=F8E85093CB2CEC2265FD38521514CEAD
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