SPECIES: Lasiorhinus krefftii — Northern Hairy-nosed Wombat
CLASSIFICATION: Critically endangered
Threatened Thursday today, on this, World Wombat Day, profiles the most endangered of our Wombat species: the Northern Hairy-nosed Wombat. There are actually fewer Northern Hairy-nosed (NHN) wombats than there are Giant pandas or Sumatran tigers left on the planet. The NHN Wombat is the largest of our three Wombat species and contrary to its name, they do not in fact have a hairy nose, but rather, hairy nostrils! For a short stocky barrel, they are capable of running up to 40km/h.
NHN wombats eat nothing but native and introduced grasses, their teeth never stop growing and they mark their territory with their cube-shaped scat, which, being square, don't roll away! What a deterrent. It's now down to around 138 individiuals left, found now only in two locations in the wild in Queensland, once found across New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland. Threats that have contributed to the decline in population include (of course) habitat loss, predation by wild dogs, competition for food with introduced grazing animals.