Common wombat a small and very shy animal, covered with thick fur. The wombat is similar to both a bear cub and a badger, but belongs to the order of marsupials. Row Marsupials
Dimensions
Length: 70-115 cm.
Tail length: 2.5 cm.
Weight: 22-39 kg.
Reproduction.
Puberty: from the first year of life.
Mating season: autumn.
Pregnancy: 20-22 days. The female carries the baby for 6 months.
Number of cubs: 1.
Lifestyle.
Habits: Loner.
Food: mostly grass, but also roots, tree bark and mushrooms.
Sounds: sharp growling.
Lifespan: up to 3 years.
Related species. In the south there lives the broad-fronted, or long-haired, wombat, and in the north the Kreft's wombat, which is in danger of extinction. Short and strong paws with long claws are an excellent tool for digging holes. Thanks to this, the wombat can lead interesting life underground. People often consider it a pest. Wombats cause significant damage to farmers in their fields and pastures.
Food. The wombat feeds mainly on grass. At night, he walks around his favorite places located in open areas. A wombat can walk up to three kilometers during the night.
The limbs of these animals are strong, armed with powerful shovel-shaped claws adapted for digging. With its front paws, the wombat pulls plants out of the ground, even eating their roots. The wombat eats the bark and leaves of trees and bushes. Each wombat has its own territory, which it protects from competitors of other wombats. Feature wombats are their teeth, similar to the teeth of rodents. They have no fangs, and tooth enamel only covers the front side of the incisors, so the upper edge becomes very sharp. Wombats have four incisors (two each on the upper and lower jaws), similar to the incisors of rodents. They are constantly growing. The wombat bites off food by quickly moving its lower jaw.

Wombat and man. The first Europeans to see a wombat were sailors from a ship that was wrecked at the end of the 18th century in Bass Strait, located between Australia and Tasmania. Having reached the shore and seeing the wombats, people at first mistook them for bear cubs. Then these animals were called badgers. Australian settlers soon realized that wombats were pests. Residents of Australia believe that wombats spoil the surfaces of pastures with burrows. Rabbits began to hide in wombat holes. When the rabbits were killed, wombats also died. For each wombat killed, a huge reward was paid. IN late XIX century, almost all wombats were destroyed on the Bass Strait Islands.
Way of life. The wombat's homeland is hilly areas in deserts and along forest edges. Lives in holes that he digs for himself. The wombat sleeps in a hole and hides when it is in danger. One wombat simultaneously occupies ten or more burrows. Each of them has a separate entrance. The wombat digs holes with its strong front paws, on which it has long, sharp claws. He throws the dug earth aside.

As the hole gets deeper, the wombat begins to dig with all four paws. When any root appears on its way, the wombat immediately gnaws it. Wombat leads night look life, so he sleeps in a hole most of the day. Often, not far from the entrance to the hole of this animal, you can see a shallow hole; this is the place where it “takes” morning sunbathing. Although some animals dig holes not far from each other, and sometimes even their structures are connected by common corridors. Two individuals rarely use the same hole If a wombat is being pursued by some predator, it tries to get to its hole at any cost. Only in the hole does the wombat feel completely safe.
Reproduction. The wombat mates only for the duration of mating. This period begins in April and lasts until June. It's mid to late autumn in Australia at this time. After pregnancy, which lasts only a few weeks, the female gives birth to one cub in a safe and comfortable burrow (a corridor that ends in a nesting chamber prepared in advance and lined with soft plants). At the time of its birth, it is still in the embryonic stage of development, but it already has well-developed forelimbs. With their help, the child can climb into the mother's bag. For six months, he sits in his mother's pouch, firmly sucking on one of the three nipples, through which he generously receives nutritious milk. Because the opening of the pouch is at the back, the journey of baby wombats into the pouch is shorter than that of small kangaroos. This is also convenient because it eliminates the possibility of clay getting into the bag while digging a hole and getting food. Even when the child is old enough to leave the pouch, he remains with his mother for another eleven months and, in case of danger, hides in her pouch. After the baby wombat learns to chew on its own, the mother plucks fresh grass for it and places it on the ground in front of its face.

Did you know… Fishermen who lived on the Bass Strait Islands captured wombats, raised them and kept them at home as pet dogs. Wombats are easy to tame.
Marsupials live in Australia, on nearby islands and in America. There are about one hundred species of marsupials in Australia.
Fossils of marsupial ancestors go back 10,000 years. The marsupials of that time were the size of a hippopotamus.
Wombat can dig a hole in the ground as quickly as an adult does using a shovel.
The Latin name comes from the word “bag.” But there are several species of marsupials in which the leather bag is absent; their young hold tightly to the milk nipples or to the mother’s fur.
A newborn wombat weighs only 2 g and is only 22 mm tall.

Wombat hole. The hole can be 30 m long and 2 m deep. The entrance to the hole is oval and wide so that the wombat can crawl into it. He can block the entrance with his own body, preventing uninvited guests from passing through.
Living space: lined with plant material and serves as a bedroom and “maternity room.”
Sunbathing area: Not far from the entrance to the hole, the wombat digs itself a shallow hole, in which it basks in the sun early in the morning.
Pouch: The female wombat's pouch opens backwards to prevent clay from getting into it when she digs.
Places of residence.Common wombat lives in Australia. Distributed from Queensland and New South Wales along the Great sandy desert and the Victoria Desert up to Southwestern regions Australia and Tasmania.
Preservation. Now the wombat is not in danger of extinction. Despite the ban, hunting for it is carried out in the state of Victoria.

Video about wombat

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Wombats- a family of two-incisor marsupials native to Australia. Wombats are burrowing herbivores that resemble small bears in appearance.

Wombats reach a length of 70 to 120 cm and a weight of 20 to 45 kg. Their body is compact, their limbs are short and strong. Each of them has five fingers, of which the outer four are crowned with large claws adapted for digging the ground. The tail is short, the large head gives the impression of being slightly flattened on the sides, and the eyes are small.

Interestingly, the wombat's jaws and teeth show similarities to rodents. In the upper and lower rows, wombats have a pair of front cutting teeth. Chewing teeth They are built very simply, there are no angular teeth. Wombats have the fewest teeth among marsupials - 12.

Wombats live in southern and eastern Australia, in the states of South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and Tasmania. They are distributed in a variety of habitats, but require soil suitable for burrowing.

Wombats are the largest living mammals that dig and spend most of their lives underground. With their sharp claws, they dig out small living caves in the ground, which sometimes form complex tunnel systems. Typically, most of them reach about 20 meters in length and 3.5 meters in depth. If the areas of individual individuals overlap, caves may different times used by different wombats. Wombats are active at night when they go out in search of food. During the day they rest in their shelters.

An adult wombat has almost no natural enemies. One of the few is the human-introduced dingo.

The back of a wombat's body is extremely hard due to thick skin, cartilage and bones. In case of danger, they can turn their backs, block their hole and repel most of the attackers, or crush their limbs against the walls of their living cave. In the back of the back, on the pelvic bones, the wombat has something like a shield that protects it when attacked from behind. He also applies strong blows butts his head like a ram or a goat. If a dog climbs into his hole, he waits for it without leaving his spot, and then tries to drive it into a corner, against the wall of the hole, and strangle it there with the help of a shield. Much more often, humans are to blame for the death of a wombat: in particular, many wombats die under the wheels of cars. In areas where human impact is low, wombat numbers are determined by the availability of suitable food.

The size of wombat home ranges varies depending on external conditions from 5 to 25 hectares. Over short distances, wombats can reach speeds of up to 62 km/h. When it is necessary to get away from danger, the wombat swims well and can climb trees and burrow into the ground.

Wombats eat young shoots of grass. Sometimes plant roots, mosses, mushrooms and berries are also eaten.

Wombats breed throughout the year everywhere except in arid regions, where their breeding is more seasonal. The females' pouches are turned back to prevent soil from getting into them when digging. Only one cub is born and raised at a time. The offspring grows in the mother's pouch for six to eight months and remains close for the next year.

Their lifespan in nature reaches 15 years; in captivity they sometimes live up to 25.

The wombat family includes three modern looking, combining into two types:

Woolly-nosed wombats (Queensland wombat, long-haired wombat)

Bare-nosed wombats (short-haired wombat, salamate wombat)

The closest relatives of wombats are representatives of the family marsupial bears(koalas). An even closer relative of wombats was Diprotodon, a giant rhino-sized marsupial that went extinct only about 40,000 years ago.

After the settlement of Australia by Europeans, the range of wombats decreased significantly. The reasons for this were the destruction of their habitats, competition with introduced species (in particular, the domestic cat) and hunting of wombats. Today, only 118 specimens of the Queensland wombat remain, living in a small nature reserve in Queensland. The other two species are more common and are not yet endangered.

See information about other representatives of the fauna of Australia, including representatives of the genus of mammals of the family of predatory marsupials - marsupial mice and a rare mammal of the family marsupial anteaters -

The wombat is a herbivore that belongs to the fauna of the smallest continent, Australia. In appearance it looks like a small bear cub. Scientists classify wombats as two-incisor marsupials.

What does a wombat look like?

The length of the exotic animal is 71 - 122 cm, weighs from 22 to 45 km. Head relative to body. It seems large, has a slightly flattened shape on the sides, tiny eyes and short but strong five-fingered paws. The claws on the fingers are disproportionately larger relative to the size of the animal. This is necessary for digging holes, since the animal spends most of its life underground. For their habitat, they choose an area with soil suitable for digging holes. The wombat has only 12 teeth, which, like the jaws, resemble the structure of the chewing system of rodents. A miniature ponytail completes the picture.

Below - beautiful photos Australian wombat:

What does it eat?

The animal feeds on shoots of young herbaceous plants. Less often, moss, plant roots, berries, mushrooms. The upper lip helps select food. Thanks to its separation, the front teeth reach the surface of the earth, cutting small shoots. They have excellent charm, which helps in finding food. They are not adapted to cold, but they tolerate a lack of water very well.

Features of the animal

Wombats are the largest and very ancient (more than 50 million years of existence) mammals. They are absolutely not afraid at the sight of people. They have practically no natural enemies, except for the feral dingo dog. The animal copes well with this threat with the help of its hard rear part of the body, which it uses as a shield, and, on occasion, can crush uninvited guests of its den with it.

Wombat feces are cube-shaped, this is due to the unusual type of structure of the anus. Every day the animal “creates” 80-100 cubes, which it carefully places on stones and trunks of fallen trees, marking its territory.

Reproduction

Animals breed all year round, excluding arid regions where this occurs seasonally. The female's pouch, turned over on her back, to prevent lumps of earth from getting in when digging, is kept for six to eight months. little cub wombat Only one individual is born per animal, although there are two nipples in the pouch. Over the next year, the baby remains next to the female. Puberty comes in two years. Wombats live up to 15 years; in captivity, their life expectancy is longer.

Video: Funny Wombat - Wombat

The wombat is a herbivorous representative of the fauna of the Australian mainland, belonging to the family of two-incisor marsupials.

Externally, the animal resembles a small bear cub, weighs between 20-40 kg with a total body length of about 1 meter.

Wombat: description of the animal

The wombat's body is compact and covered with coarse gray-brown fur. Short tail. The head is large, slightly flattened. The eyes are small. The structure of the jaws and teeth, of which there are 12 (which is the smallest among marsupials), is similar to rodents. Short, strong limbs are well developed. Each of them has 5 fingers, 4 of which are topped with large claws designed for digging holes.

Methods of protection from the enemy

The back of a wombat's body, made up of thick skin, bones and cartilage, is extremely hard. Thanks to this feature, the marsupial can defend itself from enemies: by turning its back to them, it blocks the entrance to its home. If the enemy managed to get inside, the inhabitant of the holes is able to crush the latter against the walls of the shelter. Another way to repel an attack is by head blows, which the wombat inflicts like a ram or a goat. The sounds similar to mooing made by the animal are aimed at intimidating and intimidating the enemy.

A wombat is an animal that, if unable to cope with an enemy, can run away from it, developing a speed of about 40 km/h (at short distances). The marsupial is also capable of climbing trees or swimming.

Where do wombats live?

The habitat of wombats can be called the southern and eastern parts of Australia, the states of South Australia, Victoria, Tasmania, South Wales, and Queensland. The animal spends most of its life underground, so it chooses an area with soil that is well suited for digging holes. The depth of such caves reaches 3 meters, the length of complex tunnel systems is about 20 meters.

Knowing where wombats live, it would be worth mentioning that such animals prefer a solitary lifestyle, but try to place burrows close to each other. For this reason, moves can sometimes intersect.

Animal lifestyle

The Australian inhabitant is predominantly nocturnal; during the daytime it rests in a hole. When the sun sets, it goes out in search of food. In winter, if there is a lack of heat, it can leave the home during the day in order to warm up. By the way, the wombat does not tolerate low temperatures.

To mark the territory (on stones, trunks of fallen trees), the marsupial uses its own feces, which, due to the specific structure of the anus, have a cubic shape. Sticky mucus and the specific sweetish smell of feces scare away competitors from an already occupied territory. By the way, in Australia, wombat feces are raw materials for paper production.

Wombat ancestors

The wombat is an animal that is the oldest inhabitant of the planet, appearing on it more than 18 million years ago. A close relative of the Australian animal is considered to be Diprotodon, a marsupial whose largest representatives reached about 3 meters in length and 2 meters at the withers. Of modern animals, wombats are most similar to koalas: teeth, sperm.

During the settlement of Australia (about 40-60 thousand years ago), the number of wombats on the continent sharply decreased due to hunting, destruction of habitats, and competition with new species of animals introduced to the continent. Today, the threat to animals is posed by cars, under whose wheels marsupials carelessly jumping onto the road die. However, the wombat is an animal that is not afraid of humans. Sometimes, when bad mood or showing signs of aggression in his direction, it can even show character: attack, scratch. The wombat's enemy from the animal world is the dingo.

Diet

The main food of wombats are young grass shoots, which the animal, which has an excellent sense of smell, seeks out and cuts to the very root. sharp teeth. The marsupial does not disdain berries, mushrooms, and moss. The marsupial inhabitant of the Australian continent has a slow metabolism: food is digested in about 2 weeks.

In terms of water consumption, the marsupial wombat is the most economical among mammals: fluid consumption per 1 kg of its weight is 22 ml. This feature helps such a representative of the fauna survive in conditions of drought and crop failure.

Features of reproduction

Male wombats reach sexual maturity at 2 years, females at 3. Reproduction of animals occurs all year round; in dry regions - seasonally. The gestation period for the cub is 21 days.

After being born, the baby remains in the mother’s pouch, which is located on the back (like a backpack), for another 6-8 months. Otherwise, when digging the ground, lumps of dirt would get inside the bag.

Lifespan

The average lifespan of a wombat is 15 years. In captivity this period increases significantly. Thus, a case was recorded when an Australian wombat in a zoo lived to be 34 years old. The ability to dig holes and destroy green spaces sometimes makes the wombat unsuitable for home keeping. In zoo marsupial mammal may even produce offspring.

The wombat is an animal that is most often found in the wild in areas most visited by tourists. The last ones in the desire to admire these rare individuals, they are often fed.

The inhabitant of the Australian continent has a good-natured character and easily makes contact with people. There is a version that the wombat is the prototype of Sonya, a participant in the Mad Tea Party from Lewis Carroll's fairy tale “Alice in Wonderland.” The tame animal, who loved to sleep on the table, lived with Dante Rossetti, a friend of the English writer.

Today, the export of wombats from Australia is prohibited; the Australian animal is offered only to large zoos for $500-1000.

is a representative of the Australian fauna that is active at night. The herbivorous animal, like meerkats, mongooses and ferrets, digs holes. Vegetation is the main food of the animal. It looks friendly and seems safe, however, this is a mistaken opinion. As soon as the wombat senses a threat, it immediately becomes aggressive. It is appropriate to say that nature has endowed this animal with acute hearing.

Where does the wombat live?

Australia and Tasmania are the main regions where the wombat lives. It is found in southern New Wales, Victoria and Queensland. Its habitat is vast fields, mountains and forests. The wombat has a huge need for land, in which it tirelessly digs holes - there it lives and marks its own territory.

The wombat will always protect the inhabited expanses and scare away uninvited guests with a stern moo. Often this is enough for them to leave him alone, but if necessary, the wombat is ready to fight. Previously, all of Australia was inhabited by wombats, but due to the intensive extermination of rodents, their population has decreased significantly. Today they can be found exclusively only in the southern part of the mainland.

Gallery: wombat animal (25 photos)

looks like a small stocky bear because of its short legs. But in fact, he is a “relative” of the koala and kangaroo. The body is massive and thick, the head is large. There are currently three known species of these mammals:

• common Vombatus ursinus;
• broad-browed;
• northern, or woolly-nosed Krefta.

Representatives of the last two varieties have another name - long-haired.

Appearance

The body length of an adult animal reaches about 75-130 cm. Weight is 25-45 kg. The body looks compact, the legs are short, but extremely strong. Each foot has five toes, four of which have piercing claws - with which it digs its trenches. On big head there are two small eyes. Very long and thin tail.

The common wombat has a completely bare nose, short, round ears, the fur is gray-brownish in color and is completely hard to the touch. Representatives of the other two species - northern and broad-fronted - have a hairy nose, much larger ears and soft fur. The largest among the rest is the wombat, which belongs to the broad-fronted species. His distinctive features A flat forehead and pointed ears are considered.

Who is a wombat

It is found mainly underground in a hole that he dug himself.. Using its long, sharp claws, this animal is capable of building both small caves and real tunnel passages. The length of which can reach about 20 meters, and the depth is about 3.5 meters. At the transition points of underground systems, independent caves are formed, in which different “families” of these mammals can live at different times. They are quite charming and extremely surprising, because they rest during the day, being in their shelters, and under the cover of night they become active in finding food.

Adult individuals have almost no natural enemies. However, they can only hunt on them Tasmanian devils and wild dingoes.

Nutrition

Vegetation is the source of food for wombats. They use:

• grass shoots;
• roots of found plants;
• can be saturated with moss;
• as well as mushrooms and berries.

And they recognize edible vegetation through upper lip. Strong front teeth protrude from under it, with which the animals instantly cut off young shoots to the very roots. Due to their excellently developed sense of smell, these representatives of the fauna are perfectly oriented even in the dark.

The breeding phase begins in May and continues until August. No more than three weeks are given to carry a wombat baby. During one pregnancy, she can give birth to only one “heir”, who after birth remains under her protection for a fairly maximum period of time. This animal has a pouch on its abdomen, which is turned upside down. This arrangement helps wombats dig their tunnels at ease, even when little wombat(the baby) is in this bag.

The wombat reproduces almost throughout the entire area where it lives, with the exception of isolated arid zones. In such habitats, this animal is capable of producing offspring only at certain times of the year. In situations wildlife The northern and common wombats last on average about fifteen years. In captivity, their life expectancy, on the contrary, increases to a quarter of a century.

Australia is famous for its huge number of zoological parks and tourist centers, where animals live in captivity and actively reproduce. Australian wombats are extremely popular, despite the fact that they are extremely difficult to tame. But park employees managed to find mutual language with these creatures: after much persuasion, they still come out of their personal “apartments” for everyone to see and even allow themselves to be stroked.

But do not forget about their far from meek character, which can awaken at any moment. As soon as a marsupial senses danger, it is immediately able to attack a person and scratch him with its rather large and strong claws. If you don't provoke him, he won't show any signs of anger. But at the same time, even a bad mood can affect his behavior.

Being powerful and strong, possessing remarkable weight, sharp teeth and massive jaws, an angry wombat will leave deep wounds, if the person does not disappear from his field of vision at the right time. In addition, when angry, these animals can completely destroy the vegetation that will be in the area. He will diligently dig up the entire area until not a single sprout remains on it.

Such data makes the wombat not the kindest pet. He is unpredictable, extremely timid and because of this he poses a huge danger to humans. And even if the threat is not realistic, a wombat gripped by fear can attack an imaginary enemy.

Today, many people want to keep such a pet at home. However, experts do not recommend... Because it can cause a lot of trouble both for other pets and for people. If the animal gets scared or feels threatened, it may bite or scratch. Undoubtedly, this fluffy and funny animal evokes sympathy and respect. However, keeping a wombat at home is not the best option.

A favorable place for this animal is a vast territory of a personal plot, and not a house. At the same time, it is important to remember about the climatic zone of residence, since they tolerate the cool season incredibly poorly.