Wombats are large burrowing marsupials native to Australia. There are three species of wombat, the bared-nosed wombat, the southern hairy-nosed wombat and the critically endangered northern hairy-nosed wombat.

The Southern Hairy-nosed Wombat (Lasiorhinus latifrons) ranges west from the River Murray in South Australia across the Nullarbor to just over the border in Western Australia. Very much a dryland species their status is not endangered in South Australia but populations are fragmented by intervening properties where they are under threat or eradicated. They are listed as endangered in NSW.

 

The Bare-Nosed or Common Wombat  (Vombatus ursinus) ranges throughout the east-coast of Australia from northern New South Wales to the south-east of South Australia.  Bare nosed wombats also occur in Tasmania. Some have now been discovered in southern Queensland. Current status is not endangered but the status varies from state to state and some reports have listed them as ’threatened’.

 

 

The Northern Hairy-Nosed Wombat  (Lasiorhinus krefftii) has very limited range in Epping Forest in Queensland with a total number of individuals remaining less than 200. Thus it is one of the most endangered mammals on earth. The Natural History Society’s aim is to prevent this from happening to the southern hairy-nosed and bare-nosed wombats by preserving as much of their habitat as possible thus allowing them to live untroubled by human habitation.