Common Wombat latin name: Vombatus ursinus Wombats are herbivorous eating mainly grasses, herbs, roots, sedges and bark wombats live in tunnels that they dig babies live female hairy-nosed wombats pouch colour grey-brown or blackish native Australian

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Common Wombat

Latin name: Vombatus ursinus

The name wombat is derived from the Eora Indigenous community who were the original human inhabitants of the Sydney area.

They are part of the Diprotodontia.

Size: approximately 1 metre long with a very short tail.

Description: They are large, thick set grazers with short powerful limbs, strong claws with a broad and short muzzle, ears are rounded and short and only slightly protruding above the crown. They have a very short tail and coarse fur which usually is grey-brown to blackish but can be patchy grey and buff or uniformly cream.

Wombats create extensive burrow systems with their teeth and powerful claws which are rodent-like. Mainly crepuscular (meaning active at dawn and dusk – it is derived from the latin word crepusculum meaning “twilight”) and nocturnal. They will also wander around feeding on overcast or cool days.

Herbivorous they eat mainly grasses, herbs, roots, sedges, tubers and bark. Their incisor teeth are very similar to rodent teeth and are specially adapted so that they can gnaw through tough vegetation and to dig tunnels.

Breeding: the timing of breeding will vary depending on the altitude and latitude which is most likely due to the growing season of many different plants that provide food for wombats. Female wombats give birth to a single young in springtime. The gestation lasts 26--28 days. The wombats pouch is well developed and the young will leave after about 6-7 months. They are weaned at about 15 months and will become sexually mature from approximately 18 months.

Behaviour: A wombat’s metabolism is very slow with digestion taking 14 days to be completed. This helps wombats to survive in arid conditions. They will move at about 40km/h and this speed can be maintained for up to about 90 seconds. A wombats range is up to about 23 hecatares. A hairy nosed wombat has a smaller range no more than 4 hectares.

If attacked they will summon masses of strength so they can defend their home territories by crushing any predator that enters its burrows up against the roof of the tunnel which will suffocate the animal.

Its main defence is its tough posterior which is made of cartilage and small tail making it difficult for any predator following the wombat into its tunnel, to injure or bite.