Wombat Conservation Status Is the Wombat Endangered? Until the mid 20th century, wombats were considered as pests because of their burrowing, damage they caused to fencing and grazing competition with pastoral livestock. The major threats to the wombat today are land clearing, motor vehicle impacts, dingoes, foxes, and dogs. Wombat Threats and Predators Is the Wombat Surviving? Wombats become sexually mature at about two years of age. After this time, it will venture out of its pouch to feed with its mother and is wholly independent 8-10 months later. There it latches onto a nipple and remains hidden and growing for around 6-10 months. Then, the young neophyte, no bigger than a jelly bean and weighing just half a gram, exits from its mother's birth canal and crawls up into her rearward-facing pouch. The gestation period for wombats is 20-30 days. Also, because the wombat has very low ground clearance, it prevents the young baby from hitting obstacles or getting entangled in vegetation when the wombat runs. This adaptation prevents dirt from entering the pouch when the animal is digging. However, the female wombat's pouch entrance faces backward. The female reproductive anatomy of a wombat is similar to that of other marsupials. They prefer the coastal and high country of south-eastern Australia and are the most adapted to arid climates. An adult weighing about 23 kilos and the male is larger than the female. Southern Hairy-nosed Wombat ( Lasiorhinus latifrons) is the smallest of the wombat species. They were once found throughout the arid inland parts of Victoria and up to Queensland. They are only found in a very small area of Queensland and are critically endangered. Northern Hairy-nosed Wombat ( Lasiorhinus krefftii) is the largest of the three species of wombats, measuring up to a meter in length and weighing up to 32 kilos. Hairy-nosed wombats receive sufficient moisture from their diet and do not need to drink. These wombats are genetically very different from their distant cousins, the common wombats. They have larger ears, a hairier noses, slightly longer heads with squarer snouts, and softer fur compared to the common wombat. There are two types of Hairy-nosed wombats.
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