These wombats are heavily built with very powerful forearms. They have a thick, stocky body that averages one meter (3.25 ft) in length. Their heads are large, with small eyes and pointed ears. Currently they are one of the world's largest burrowing animals. Males and females are both covered with a soft, silky brown coat. They have long whiskers extending from the sides of their noses -- hence the name hairy-nosed wombat. The females have posteriorly-oriented pouches. They also have continuously growing upper molars due to their diet.
Range mass: 25 to 40 kg.
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; bilateral symmetry
Average lifespan
Status: captivity: 30 years.
Hairy-nosed wombats are terrestrial and build burrows. They spend time both above and below ground. They live in semi-arid, open woodlands or grasslands.
Terrestrial Biomes: savanna or grassland
Lasiorhinus krefftii used to be abundant in New South Wales until the settlement of Europeans in the area after 1872. There were populations near St. George in South Queensland and near Jeriderie in New South Wales until around 1910. The sole population of the hairy-nosed wombat is now in the Epping Forest National Park, northwest of Clermont in Central Queensland.
Biogeographic Regions: australian (Native )
The hairy-nosed wombat is strictly herbivorous and feeds on the native grasses in the park where it resides. These grasses include Hetropogon contortus (bunch spear grass) and Aristida spp. (three-awned grass). The wombat's decline in numbers has mostly been due to competition from local cattle for the grass they both feed upon. These animals have weak eyesight combined with a good senses of smell and hearing, and their activity is nocturnal.
One very interesting fact about this species is their loss of heterozygosity. Measurements of DNA variability made on DNA extracted from specimens from extinct populations of this wombat (Deniliquin, New South Wales) revealed that Epping Forest populations have only 41% of the variability of the extinct population, suggesting a bottlenecked species in steady decline.
Perception Channels: tactile ; chemical
Lasiorhinus krefftii are extremely endangered and there have been massive efforts to prevent their extinction. Although previously avoided at almost all costs, trapping has now become a major tool for conservationists to build up this population of wombats. The trapping experiments were begun in 1985. In 1981 it was estimated that there were only 20-40 wombats left, but now the estimated number of wombats is around 70. The local cattle in the area have been the largest problem for the population in recent years. There are now strict restrictions on cattle grazing in the park. The wombats used to be abundant before European settlement as well.
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: critically endangered
The rigorous conservation attempts for this wombat have been costly to the Australian government and other independent sources. They have also been a problem for cattle raisers because they have been forced to find new areas for their cattle to graze. This is especially difficult because this area of Australia is plagued by droughts (a problem for the wombats themselves.)
Until recently, the northern hairy-nosed wombat was widely hunted for its fur, which has high commercial value.
There is a single mating season per year that takes place in the spring/summer period. Time of birth ranges from November to March. Hairy-nosed wombats give birth to a single young. It has recently been hypothesized that heavy rainfall in the winter months prior to the mating season is positively correlated with birth rate. This is most likely because rain makes the native grasses more abundant. Observations on their natural habitat have revealed low subadult survivorship, but without revealing why this occurs. The young wombat is carried in the mother's pouch for approximately six months, and it is nursed for eight to nine months. Unfortunately, almost nothing is known about the details of their reproduction or gestation because it is very difficult to observe them in the wild, and in captivity they do not fare well. Trapped animals are kept only for a short period of time.
Key Reproductive Features: gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual
Average number of offspring: 1.
The northern hairy-nosed wombat (Lasiorhinus krefftii) or yaminon is one of three extant species of Australian marsupials known as wombats. It is one of the rarest land mammals in the world and is critically endangered. Its historical range extended across New South Wales, Victoria, and Queensland as recently as 100 years ago, but it is now restricted to one place, a 3 km2 (1.2 sq mi) range within the 32 km2 (12 sq mi) Epping Forest National Park in Queensland. With the species threatened by wild dogs, the Queensland Government built a 20-kilometre (12 mi)-long predator-proof fence around all wombat habitat at Epping Forest National Park in 2002.
In 2003, the total population consisted of 113 individuals, including only around 30 breeding females. After recording an estimated 230 individuals in 2015, the number was up to over 300 by 2021.
English naturalist Richard Owen described the species in 1873. The genus name Lasiorhinus comes from the Latin words lasios, meaning hairy or shaggy, and rhinus, meaning nose.[4][3] The widely accepted common name is northern hairy-nosed wombat, based on the historical range of the species, as well as the fur, or "whiskers", on its nose. In some older literature, it is referred to as the Queensland hairy-nosed wombat.[5]
The northern hairy-nosed wombat shares its genus with one other extant species, the southern hairy-nosed wombat, while the common wombat is in the genus Vombatus. Both Lasiorhinus species differ morphologically from the common wombat by their silkier fur, broader hairy noses, and longer ears.[6]
In general, all species of wombat are heavily built, with large heads and short, powerful legs. They have strong claws to dig their burrows, where they live much of the time. It usually takes about a day for an individual to dig a burrow.
Northern hairy-nosed wombats have bodies covered in soft, grey fur; the fur on their noses sets them apart from the common wombat. They have longer, more pointed ears and a much broader muzzle than the other two species.[7] Individuals can be 35 cm high, up to 1 m long and weigh up to 40 kg. The species exhibits sexual dimorphism, with females being somewhat larger than males due to the presence of an extra layer of fat. They are slightly larger than the common wombat and able to breed somewhat faster (giving birth to two young every three years on average).
The northern hairy-nosed wombat's nose is very important in its survival because it has very poor eyesight, so it must detect its food in the dark through smell. Examination of the wombat's digestive tract shows that the elastic properties of the ends of their large intestines are capable of turning liquid excrement into cubical scat.[8]
Northern hairy-nosed wombats require deep sandy soils in which to dig their burrows, and a year-round supply of grass, which is their primary food. These areas usually occur in open eucalypt woodlands.[3]
At Epping Forest National Park, northern hairy-nosed wombats construct their burrows in deep, sandy soils on levée banks which were deposited by a creek that no longer flows through the area. They forage in areas of heavy clay soils adjacent to the sandy soils, but do not dig burrows in these areas, which become waterlogged in the wet seasons. In the park, burrows are often associated with native bauhina trees (Lysiphyllum hookeri). This tree has a spreading growth form, and its roots probably provide stability for the extensive burrows dug by the wombats.[3]
The range of the northern hairy-nosed wombat is restricted to about 300 hectares (740 acres) of the Epping National Forest in east-central Queensland, 120 kilometres (75 mi) north-west of Clermont.[9]
The northern hairy-nosed wombat is nocturnal, living underground in networks of burrows. They avoid coming above ground during harsh weather, as their burrows maintain a constant humidity and temperature.[10] They have been known to share burrows with up to 10 individuals, equally divided by sex. Young are usually born during the wet season, between November and April. When rain is abundant, 50-80% of the females in the population will breed, giving birth to one offspring at a time. Juveniles stay in their mothers' pouches for 8 to 9 months, and are weaned at 12 months of age.[11]
The fat reserves and low metabolic rate of this species permit northern hairy-nosed wombats to go without food for several days when food is scarce. Even when they do feed every day, it is only for 6 hours a day in the winter and 2 hours in the summer, significantly less than a similar-sized kangaroo, which feeds for at least 18 hours a day. Their diet consists of native grasses: black speargrass (Heteropogon contortus), bottle washer grasses (Enneapogon spp.), golden beard grass (Chrysopogon fallax), and three-awned grass(Aristida spp.), as well as various types of roots. The teeth continue to grow beyond the juvenile period, and are worn down by the abrasive grasses they eat.. Its habitat has become infested with African buffel grass, a grass species introduced for cattle grazing. The grass outcompetes the more nutritional and native grasses on which the wombat prefers to feed by limiting its quantity, forcing the wombat to travel further to find the native grasses it prefers, and leading to a reduction in biomass.[12]
The conservation status of the northern hairy-nosed wombat is as follows:[3]
On 15 February 2018, the federal Department of the Environment and Energy (DoEE) upgraded the conservation status from Endangered to Critically Endangered under the EPBC Act to better align with the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species.[3] Due to its status under the EPBC Act, it is listed on the Species Profile and Threats Database (SPRAT).[13]
Originally there were two main groups of hairy-nosed wombats (the other being the Southern hairy-nosed wombat, Lasiorhinus latifrons) that were separated by Spencer Gulf in South Australia. Both species experienced a population decline between 1870 and 1920, with the main influences being culling by agriculturalists, competition for food with introduced and feral species and predation. Threats to the northern hairy-nosed wombat include small population size, predation, competition for food, disease, floods, droughts, wildfires, and habitat loss. Its small, highly localised population makes the species especially vulnerable to natural disasters.[14] Wild dogs are the wombat's primary predator, but the spread of rabbits and the actions of landowners have also contributed to their decline.[15]
There have been two reports of male northern hairy-nosed wombats contracting a fungal infection caused by Emmonsia parva, a soil saprophytic fungus. It is likely that the northern hairy-nosed wombats are inhaling the infection from the soil.[16]
To combat the vulnerability of this species, a number of conservation projects have been put into action in the 21st century. One example was the construction of a two-metre-high, predator-proof fence around 20-kilometre (12 mi) of the park in 2000.[3] A second, insurance colony of this species of wombat was established at Richard Underwood Nature Refuge at Yarran Downs, near Thallon (a small town near St George) in southern Queensland in 2008. The reserve is surrounded by a predator-proof fence.[17]
In 2006, researchers performed a study to analyse the demography of the northern hairy-nosed wombat, by using double-sided tape in the burrows to collect hair of the wombats. Through DNA analysis, they found that the ratio of female to male wombats was 1:2.25 in the population of approximately 113 wombats. These findings allowed researchers to understand the demographics of this species, and opened up further research to better understand why there is a significant difference in males and females in the wild.[10]
Within Epping Forest National Park, increased attention and funds have been given for wombat research and population monitoring, fire management, maintenance of the predator-proof fence, general management, and control of predators and competitors, and elimination of invasive plant species.[18] In addition, the species recovery plan of 2004 to 2008 included communication and community involvement in saving the species, and worked to increase the current population in the wild, established other populations within the wombat's historical range, and worked with zoos to establish a captive husbandry program. There is also a volunteer caretaker program, that allows volunteers to contribute in monitoring the population and keeping the predator fence in good repair. In addition, DNA fingerprint identification of wombat hairs allows research to be conducted without an invasive trapping or radio-tracking program.[19]
Due to the combined efforts of these forces, the northern hairy-nosed wombat population has been slowly making a comeback.[20]
Text may have been copied from this source, which is available under a Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence. 
Data related to Lasiorhinus latifrons at Wikispecies
Media related to Lasiorhinus krefftii at Wikimedia CommonsThe northern hairy-nosed wombat (Lasiorhinus krefftii) or yaminon is one of three extant species of Australian marsupials known as wombats. It is one of the rarest land mammals in the world and is critically endangered. Its historical range extended across New South Wales, Victoria, and Queensland as recently as 100 years ago, but it is now restricted to one place, a 3 km2 (1.2 sq mi) range within the 32 km2 (12 sq mi) Epping Forest National Park in Queensland. With the species threatened by wild dogs, the Queensland Government built a 20-kilometre (12 mi)-long predator-proof fence around all wombat habitat at Epping Forest National Park in 2002.
In 2003, the total population consisted of 113 individuals, including only around 30 breeding females. After recording an estimated 230 individuals in 2015, the number was up to over 300 by 2021.
