NUMBAT

NUMBAT

The only species of its family and near extinction due to loss of habitat and predators brought in by man to Australia. It is a small marsupial.

Marsupial are animals which give birth to their young at a too early stage and the tiny baby crawls into the mother’s pouch, attaches it to its teat and continues growing. The numbat has a further distinction is has no pouch and the young ones attaches it to the mother’s nipples deep in the long fur. It lives there for four months.

The Numbat is the size of a squirrel and has a most attractively marked fur. Its coat is a reddish brown colour from head, shoulder and upper back. The lower back and rump have a number of black and white transverse stripes. The under fur is paler. It has a long very bushy tail and the bristly hairs are grizzled grey and white. A dark stripe with a wide border runs from the ear, around the eye and down along either side of the long, pointed muzzle. The animal has short, thick forelimbs which are widely spaced.  It has five toes on its front legs and four on the hind legs. Each toe has a strong claw.

NUMBAT ON THE LEFT
HAS ITS TONGUE
STICKING OUT

DIET

It was wrongly labelled as the banded anteater but it eats only terminates. The ants it does eat are only predators which went into the termites before the numbat broke into the termites nest. The nest is either in a log or underground tunnel. Therefore ants could have moved in and they scooped up with the termites.  The numbat does not dig or rip open the huge sun-baked mounts made by termite’s colonies.

The numbat differs again from other termites or ant-eater mammals but still share many of their characteristics.  The long claws to break into their nests, a long pointed snout, an extendible, cylindrical, sticky tongue for getting to the termite in crevices and a bony palate where termites get crushed against before swallowing.

Due to this diet the numbat is active during the day which makes it again very usual in comparison to other marsupials in Australia. It had been seen sunbathing but most of the time it searches for food.  By dead trees, decayed logs and subsurface soil are constantly scratched and with its long snout investigated. The moment it discovers some termites they will be scooped up and eaten in no time.

HABITAT

The numbat has its home in scrub wood. Its favourite spot is near a eucalyptus tree. The fallen branches are love by termites and therefore provide a food larder as well. A further use of the eucalyptus tree the hollowed out branches provide shelter for the numbat and many have nest build in with grass and leaves.  The numbat also dig borrows for the night shelter or nest. It has a short tunnel and at the end a chamber filled with leaves and grass. Those burrows are providing refuge. Observation revealed that logs are used in warmer weather while borrows are used in colder nights.  One numbat does use several refuge shelters at any time.

BREEDING

The numbat is a solitary animal using a territory of 100 to 150ha. It mates during the Australian summer months between December and April.  It has tow to four babies but mostly it is four and they are born between January and May. The moment they are born they crawl to the mothers belly and attached themselves to its teat. With nestled deep into the long, warm fur the baby is provided with warmth and food. As they grow they drag on the ground. At four months the mother leaves them in the borrow and suckle them at night.  After six months they start eating termites but stay with the mother till she starts to breed again in December.

PREDATORS

The numbat’s main predator is the carpet snake and certain big lizards. The worst damage is done by foxes, cats, dogs brought in by white settlers in Australia. The only chance to escape the numbat runs up the trees or into a hole blocking the entrance with it s broad back.

Usually the tail is carried upright but when the animals are alarmed or exited it curls it like squirrels

Once widely spread over New South Wales, South Australia and Western Australia the habitats are greatly reduced for farming. The numbat is forced into protected area but the numbers of numbats are in decline.

Conservationists have set up breeding colonies and hoping to release the animals into the wild to increase their numbers.