The Life of Animals | Wombat | Wombats are Australian marsupials; they are short-legged, muscular quadrupeds, approximately 1 metre (39 in) in length with a short, stubby tail. The name wombat comes from the aborigines that originally inhabited the Sydney area. Wombats were often called badgers by early settlers because of their size and habit. Because of this, localities such as Badger Creek, Victoria and Badger Corner, Tasmania were named after the wombat. Wombats are Australian marsupials are short-legged, four-legged and has a length of approximately 1 meter with a very short tail. Wombats dig burrows with front teeth like a rodent and strong claws. Although wombats hunt in the daytime and at night, wombats will also go to eat on a cold day.
Wombats dig extensive burrow systems with rodent-like front teeth and powerful claws. One distinctive adaptation of wombats is their backwards pouch. Although mainly crepuscular and nocturnal, wombats also venture out to feed on cool or overcast days. Wombats are herbivores their diet consists mostly of grasses, sedges, herbs, bark and roots. Female wombats give birth to a single young in the spring, after a gestation period, which like all marsupials can vary, in the case of the wombat: 20–21 days. Wombats are weaned after 15 months, and are sexually mature at 18 months.
Wombats defend home territories centred on their burrows, and they react aggressively to intruders. The common wombat occupies a range of up to 23 ha (57 acres), while the hairy-nosed species have much smaller ranges, of no more than 4 ha (9.9 acres). Dingos and Tasmanian Devils prey on wombats. When attacked, wombats dive into a nearby tunnel, using their rump to block a pursuing attacker. Humans can receive puncture wounds from wombat claws as well as bites.
Human impact on the wombat population is now at a critical level. Wombats suffer from a disease called sarcoptic mite or mange that was introduced to Australia and to wombats by human activity. This leads to a long, slow and painful death for wombats. Diseases and viruses brought in by farming activity now affect wombats. Incidents of Coccidia, Clostridium perfringens and tetanus amongst others, are evident in wombats. Behavioural studies on wombats are few and limited in their scope. As a result, wombats are misunderstood and those attempting to rear and rehabilitate injured and orphaned wombats have difficulty getting them appropriate medical attention and in helping others understand the best ways of living with wombats.
Habitat destruction is having a major impact on wombat numbers as well. Although Australia is a big country there are few areas where wombats can live undisturbed. Many parks, zoos and other tourist set-ups across Australia have wombats on public display, and they are quite popular. Wombats are wide-ranging foragers and nocturnal with strong instincts for burrowing. Unlike most other Australian marsupials, the wombat has a relatively large brain. This, combined with strong instincts upon maturity, allows a captive hand-raised wombat to be easily released into the wild.The common wombat is thought to be a descendant of the giant wombat that existed around 50 million years ago.
The common wombat is a nocturnal herbivore and gets to about 26 years old in the wild although some wombat individuals have been known to live for longer in captivity. Wombats eats grasses, shoots and bark which the wombat needs to keep gnawing on in order to keep it's continuously growing teeth at a manageable size. Like all other marsupials, the female wombat has a warm pouch on it's belly in which the wombat babies are nurtured for the first few months of life. When the baby wombats are first born they are very small and undeveloped and crawl into the mother wombat's pouch almost immediately.
The baby wombat stays in the pouch of the mother wombat until the baby wombat is around 5 months old Wombats have long claws which they use to dig burrows. Wombat burrows can easily become an extensive network of underground tunnels leading to small chambers. Most wombats are solitary animals but some wombats have been known to form underground colonies with other wombats. Wombats have a few natural predators including foxes and dingos. Although the wombat is relatively defenceless when it is out and about, wombats are generally well protected in their underground burrows as many predators cannot follow the wombat into the narrow, complex tunnels. Today the wombat is considered to be an endangered species of animal. Wombat numbers have been decreasing rapidly due to habitat loss and hunting by humans who believe the wombat and it's network of underground tunnels to be an agricultural pest.
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