Facts about wombats and links to more wombat facts, images and fun.
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I am currently working on my own fact filled wombat page. I haven't finished it yet but I'm putting out what I have. Expect more information and some rearranging. To compensate for what I am currently missing at the bottom of this page I have some links for you to follow. These links are to web pages with wombat facts and wombat fun. I also have links to wombat pictures. I have not checked each link yet. My wombat picture is currently missing. I am going to try to get permission to use it.
The wombat {wahm'-bat} is a heavyset, burrowing, herbivorous animal that is native to the eastern half of Australia and to the island of Tasmania south of Australia.
Wombats are thick-bodied animals that have short, powerful legs with strong claws used for burrowing. They range in length from 70 to 120 cm (27-47 in) and weigh up to 35 kg (77 lb). Their heads are relatively large but they have very small tails and small eyes and short ears. Wombats are grayish brown. The common wombat is coarse haired with a naked nose and rounded ears. The two species of hairy-nosed wombats have soft fur and a hairy muzzle and pointed ears that are slightly longer than those of the common wombat.
The wombat, like many famous Australian animals is a marsupial. The female has a pouch but, unlike a kangaroo, this pouch opens rearward. This helps prevent dirt from entering the pouch as the wombat digs.
Wombats are classified as follows:
Currently there are three recoginized living species of wombat in two genera (Vombatus and Lasiorhinus):
The wombat and koala are the animals must closely related to each other (the koala also has a pouch that opens posteriorly). Do not confuse wombats with numbats (Myrmecobius fasciatus), another Australian marsupial. Neither wombats nor numbats are bats.
Wombats' have large and numerous burrows and colonies have even been observed from space. Many ranchers consider the burrows to be a hazard to domestic range animals and exterminate the wombats.
The wombats' main food supply is native grasses. Also included in their diet are sedges, matrushes and the roots of shrubs and trees. Wombats mainly forage at night.
In general, you can say that wombats live in the eastern half of Australia and on the island of Tasmania south of Australia. A more detailed description of their ranges follows:
The following images have been collected by someone else
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Text copyright © 1996 Rickard A. Parker
E-mail Rickard A. Parker at
raparker@theworld.com
