The Numbat

Here is a piece about the Numbat. Thank you to Kelsey, the author of this piece, for donating her time to write about an endangered species. Kami


The numbat is a small carniverous marsupial that lives only in Western Australia. Its scientific name is Myrmecobius fasciatus, and it is the only member in its genus (Myrmecobius) and the family Myrmecobiidae. Also called the Banded Anteater, the numbat actually eats mostly termites, not ants.

The numbat ranged all over most of Australia until European colonization, at which time the European Red Fox was purposefully introduced. The foreign species made the numbat extinct in Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia, and the Northern Territory, and almost in Western Australia as well, but it was saved. By 1970 there were less than 1,000 living numbats, mostly in two populations, one near Perth. These areas had many small logs for the numbat to hide in, and this is the only reason researchers can think of to explain why it was able to survive there and not elsewhere.

The numbat is diurnal (meaning it comes out during the day), and is therefore more at risk than other, nocturnal or crepuscular marsupials (those that come out at night or at dawn and dusk). It has many natural predators, including the Little Eagle, Brown Goshawk, Collared Sparrowhawk, and the Carpet Python, but until the introduction of the Red Fox, it had a healthy population. When an experimental program to capture the foxes was implemented, more than forty times the number of numbats were reported as seen.

Since 1980, extensive numbat rescue programs have been used, and recently they began to be re-introduced into historic areas (after the foxes were removed from that area). The two separate populations helped to maintain some genetic diversity, but the numbat is still at risk of extinction. It is now classified as vulnerable rather than critically endangered.

Kelsey