An Overview of Australia’s Wombats and Their Lifestyle
Wombats are marsupials-mammals whose females have a pouch to feed the young-with short legs and extremely strong claws which help them with their impressive burrowing. Female wombats only give birth to one young at a time. All wombats stay in their mother’s pouch for approximately six months and will continue to live under their mother’s care until they are approximately one year old. Wombats sexually mature at age two and usually live for roughly five years. However, wombats held in captivity often have been known to live up to twenty years. Their shortened life-span in the wild is due to the limited availability of food because wombats often have to compete for food with cattle, sheep, and other grass-eating animals. Their only natural enemies are the Tasmanian devil and the eagle. They live in Australia and are divided into three different species.
Common Wombat
The Common Wombat is found mainly on the New South Wales border and around the coastal area through to South Australia. Like most species of Wombat, they prefer hill-covered habitats so they can burrow. An average adult Common Wombat weighs around 30 kg or 66 lbs, but Common Wombats can weigh up to 40 kg or 88 lbs. They are large, the males tending to be larger than the females, usually reaching between 80 cm (31 in.) to 130 cm (51 in.) in length. Despite their short legs, Common Wombats can run up to 40 km/hr (25 mph). The Common Wombat eats native grasses, roots, shrubs, and mosses and has rootless teeth that continue to grow throughout the course of their lifetime. The Common Wombat is nocturnal, although it will occasionally venture out during the day.
The Northern Hairy Nosed Wombat
The Northern Hairy Nosed Wombat is an endangered species on the brink of extinction. During the nineteenth century, Wombats lived throughout New South Wales and Victoria, but now they live only in a small section of the Epping Forest National Park located in Queensland. The drought of the 1900s is thought to be the cause of their drop in numbers and the lack food availability is most likely the reason numbers have not increased over recent years.
The Northern Hairy Nosed wombat tends to be between 80 cm and 100 cm long-only slightly smaller than the Common wombat. Their muzzle is covered in short brown hairs, giving the Northern Hairy Nosed wombat its name.
The habits, anatomy, and lifestyle of the Northern Hairy Nosed Wombat are extremely similar to that of the Common wombats. Northern Hairy Nosed Wombats prefer to live areas that are semi-dry with deep soil for burrowing.
The Southern Hairy Nosed Wombat
The Southern Hairy Nosed Wombat is smaller than both the Common wombat and the Northern Hairy Nosed Wombat, even though its ears are larger and pointier. Its muzzle is broader and is covered in fine hairs and its fur has a silkier texture.
The Southern Hairy Nosed Wombat’s burrowing system is noticeably more complex, usually consisting of burrows that extend up to thirty meters overall and have multiple entrances. The Southern Hairy Nosed Wombat burrows into small hillsides, creek beds, or under limestone formations. Their lifestyle is distinctly more social than the other species of wombat. They frequently live in groups of six or ten, the males generally occupying the center of the burrow while the females reside in the outer tunnels.
The Southern Hairy Nosed wombat inhabits areas with arid conditions and therefore has developed anatomical features specifically for the arid conditions. They have a metabolic rate lower than that of the Common Wombat and Northern Hairy Nosed wombat, their stomach can take up to eight days to digest a meal, they can lower their body temperature to conserve energy and water, and their kidneys are specially designed to allow for more water absorption. These differences allow the Southern Hairy Nosed wombat to survive without water in high temperatures.
