The northern hairy-nosed wombat has rebounded from just 35 individuals in the 1980s to over 400 today, thanks to intensive conservation, predator-proof fencing, and habitat management. Despite this success, the species remains critically endangered, with ongoing threats from predation, habitat loss, and climate change.
A Perilous Low Point
The northern hairy-nosed wombat (Lasiorhinus krefftii) is a stout, burrowing herbivore roughly the size of a medium dog, with coarse, grayish-brown fur and a distinctive hair-covered nose. By 1982, the species existed in only one place on Earth: Epping Forest National Park in central Queensland, Australia. Before European settlement, the species lived widely across Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria. However, extensive habitat loss, competition with grazing livestock, drought, and predation by wild dogs and dingoes had driven it to near extinction.
Securing the Last Refuge
Recognizing the peril, officials took decisive action. In 1971, they secured the last known habitat by establishing Epping Forest as a scientific national park. Conservation teams built a predator-proof fence more than 12 miles long around the wombat habitat to keep dingoes and wild dogs out. This secure, contained habitat allowed rangers and scientists to monitor the population closely, using hair-sampling and genetic analysis—methods that let them track health and numbers without ever having to trap the animals.
Spreading the Risk
The first major step to reduce the species’ vulnerability came in 2009, when wildlife authorities translocated 15 wombats to a second fenced-in and managed site: Richard Underwood Nature Refuge near St George in southern Queensland. By the early 2020s, that second colony housed about 18 wombats, offering a foothold outside Epping Forest and proof that translocations could work.
Toward a Third Population: The Powrunna State Forest Project
In 2024, conservationists took the next big step by translocating northern hairy-nosed wombats to Powrunna State Forest, another site near St George. Teams spent months preparing the habitat, building protective fencing, ensuring suitable food and water resources, and even creating starter burrows to help the animals settle in. The first group of around 15 wombats was moved to Powrunna in mid-2024. By July 2025, additional translocations had taken place, with more individuals being carefully transported from Epping Forest to the new forest home.
Success Still Remains Fragile
Despite these gains, northern hairy-nosed wombats still remain critically endangered. More than 95 percent of the entire global population still resides at Epping Forest, even after expanding to new sites. Predation remains a threat outside predator-protected reserves, and habitat loss continues to limit where new colonies can be formed. Climate change adds another layer of uncertainty, as shifting rainfall patterns affect grass growth and water availability in these arid regions.
Securing a Future for an Uncommon Marsupial
The northern hairy-nosed wombat’s journey from about 35 individuals in the early 1980s to more than 400 today is a remarkable conservation achievement, clearly showing what sustained protection, careful science, and adaptive management can do when a species is given a chance. But to truly secure the future of this unique marsupial, conservationists must continue their work of expanding populations beyond a few fenced reserves, improving habitat connectivity, and maintaining the vigilance that has brought the species back from the brink.
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