The wombat is
cute, therefore we will learn about it.
physical description
The Wombat is a
warm blooded mammal, when grown to
full size it is covered in
fur and may reach a
weight of over thirty-nine
kilograms and grow to over a meter long.
The common wombat has a
tail, however it is mostly obscured by fur which ranges from black to dark grey and brown. The wombat is also a
marsupial, this means that that it will live in its mothers
pouch until it is old enough to
fend for itself.
The
front legs are short with powerful
shoulders which makes it well suited for
digging cozy
burrows. The five
claws of the front legs are used to loosen the soil, while
the broad padded
palms scoop the loose soil
backwards and
sideways. The rear
feet are narrower and longer compared to the ones in front, they are used to
kick loose soil out of the burrow.
genus
Vombatus ursinus (the Common Wombat)
habitat
An animal unique to
Australia, they are found primarily in
Victoria,
Tasmania, and
Queensland. They live predominantly in forests and cold mountainous regions. Though they were once prevalent throughout the southwestern and eastern portions of Australia, all five types of wombats are now confined to a much smaller area.
The wombat lives in
burrows made from loose
soil and
rocks which are typically four
meters long, however they may
extend up to 20 or 30 meters as part of a
burrow
system. The burrows are typically dug out of
slopes,
banks, or
hills, and have small
sleeping places located near the end.
feeding habits
The
diet of a wombat consists primarily of
grass and other plants. Their teeth
grow continuously throughout their life due the
wear caused by eating food.
behavior
Primarily the wombat will
sleep during the
day and emerge at
night to
feed and move about (thus it is a
nocturnal animal), however it may come out during
daytime on occasion.
A wombat will reach a
reproductive age when it is three or four years old, although
breeding is contingent upon a good
supply of food for
milk production. If
conditions are not adequate, then a wombat may delay the
reproductive cycle until things are more favorable for
nurturing young. The male wombat takes no part of the
upbringing of offspring.
It takes roughly three to four
weeks for a
baby wombat to be born after
mating has occurred, at this point it is still highly undeveloped and will claw its way into the
mothers
pouch. Once in the pouch, it will attach itself to one of the teats and
stay there for three
months or longer. Once the baby has developed a thick coat of fur it
will leave the pouch for the outside world, however it will not
stray far from its mother and will often return to hide in the mothers pouch at signs of
danger. After ten
months, the young wombat will be ready to leave the pouch permanently and
live on its own.
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