Numbats - aka Marsupial Anteater

Facts about Numbats

By GregTheBusker

One of the rare Australian animals and Western Australia’s faunal emblem, numbat, also called the marsupial anteater, is the only living member of the Myrmecobiidae family. Although it was once found in South Australia and New South Wales, numbat habitat is now restricted to the south-western WA, where it lives in the famous Jarrah and Wandoo forests.

By flickkerphotos

Do Numbats Have Stripes?
Yes. Numbat (Myrmecobius fasciatus) is a small, 270mm long animal that weighs up to 700g, has a narrow head, brushy tail, and stripes on the body that camouflage it in its open forest habitat.

Basic Needs of a Numbat
Numbat is one of the very few Australian animals that lives exclusively on termites (another one is echidna), which it catches with its 100-mm long tongue. It eats 20,000 termites a day and is the only small mammal to forage during the day, when it can easily be seen on the forest ground or climbing trees after termites.

Numbat is a solitary and territorial animal. Its territory can be up to 50 hectares large and it has got several nests in burrows and tree logs within its territory.

By Nick_Lawes

Its mating season is in January and young are born in late January or early February. The female has got four nipples but no pouch so the young are hanging off her teats for six months until they are independent to be left in a nursery burrow. In September the young start exploring outside world, and by November they leave to find their own territories.

By flyingblogspot

Endangered Animals Numbat
Its species status is vulnerable – less than 2000 individuals are believed to be left in the wild. Land clearing and red foxes are their biggest threat. They have been reintroduced to national parks and nature reserves where control programs reduce introduced predators.

Good places to see numbat are Dyandra State Forest, Dragon Rocks Nature Reserve, Perup Forest and the Boyagin Nature Reserve, all in Western Australia.

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