Breakthrough provides food and water for the northern hairy nosed wombat in tough times
Central Queensland, home of the last population of northern hairy-nosed wombats, is regularly hit by droughts and long dry seasons. Getting northern hairy-nosed wombats to drink from water troughs is one way to help the species. Over the years a range of designs were unsuccessfully trialled.
The breakthrough was a 2,700 litre water tank, 1 km of pipeline and two self-filling troughs installed near burrows. The 'troughs' were old shower bases filled with river sand and covered with weld mesh that extended 1.5m outwards in all directions to prevent digging. A sealed float valve kept the water level up to the top.
Eventually the wombats got the idea of drinking. The sand was removed and the shower bases replaced with two small metal dishes, one for water and one for food.
The supplementary feed and water program for northern hairy-nosed wombats has been a great success, and will improve the survival chances for young, old and lactating female wombats.
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