Tasmanian Wombat

Description:

It is a fairly large, solidly built animal with a squat, round, bearlike body, small ears and eyes, and a large naked nose. Its thick, coarse fur varies in colour from sandy brown to grey and black, and is sometimes flecked with fawn.They have short legs, large paws and long, strong claws which are used in the excavation of burrows. The forepaws are used for digging and after pushing the dirt to one side the wombat will back out, moving the loose dirt with both the front and back paws. It differs from all other marsupials by having a single pair of upper and lower incisors (front teeth). These teeth are never ground away as they are both rootless and never stop growing; which is just as well as the wombat often uses them for cutting through obstructions, much like a beaver! Being marsupials, female wombats have a pouch that in their case opens backward to prevent dirt and debris entering while burrowing.

Habitat:

In Tasmania the wombat is widespread and found from sea level to alpine areas but shows a preference for heathland, coastal scrub and open forest, where soils favour their burrowing habits. This one seen in a high alpine region , where there is a large quantity and many are released into this area after debilitation from injury.

Notes:

The wombat is the largest burrowing mammal.There are three subspecies of common wombat - Vombatus ursinus hirsutus which is found on the mainland, Vombatus ursinus tasmaniensis which is found in Tasmania and Vombatus ursinus ursinus which was once found throughout the Bass Strait islands but is now restricted to Flinders Island. A great read - http://www.think-tasmania.com/common-wom...