What is a numbat?
The numbat is a small, striped marsupial that eats termites. It is Western Australia's animal emblem and one of the few marsupials active during the day.
Numbats have reddish-brown fur with white stripes across their backs, a bushy tail and a pointed snout. They weigh about 500 grams and are about the size of a large rat.
They eat almost nothing but termites, licking them up with a long, sticky tongue that can stretch about 10 centimetres. A numbat can eat around 20,000 termites a day.
Unusual marsupial
Female numbats have no pouch. Their four young cling to the mother's teats, protected by her fur, and are later left in a burrow while she forages.
Numbats shelter in hollow logs at night.
They are listed as endangered.
Numbats are active during the day because their food supply, termites in shallow underground galleries, is most accessible when the soil is warm. They use strong front claws to scratch open soil and rotting wood. Because they forage in the open, they are easy prey for foxes, cats and birds of prey, and freeze or dash for a log when danger appears. Dryandra Woodland near Narrogin is one of the best places to see them in the wild.
Did You Know?
The numbat has more teeth than almost any other land mammal, about 50, though it barely chews its food.