Today is Wombat Day!

Living in the forests and mountain regions of southeastern Australia and Tasmania is an endangered animal which likes to dig tunnels. It is known as the Wombat and today is the day to celebrate it, so let's learn some fun facts about this unique animal. Did you know . . . 

• Because of their lifestyle, wombat pouches are unique. While marsupial pouches open up toward the animal’s head, wombat pouches open downward, toward their rears. This design ensures that their pouches don’t fill up with dirt when they dig and move about underground. While other marsupial infants have to climb down into their mother’s pouches, wombat joeys (baby marsupials) have to climb up into them. Fortunately, wombats spend most of their time on all fours, which keeps their babies from falling out.
• Most Australians have never seen them in the wild, but among the well-known wombat facts is that you can find their burrows because of their poop. They are the only mammal with cube-shaped poo.
• Although wombats are now rather small creatures about the size of dogs, they weren’t always so. Fossil records show during the Ice Age (which lasted some 2.4 million to 11,500 years ago), wombats were actually the size of rhinos. The latter stand up to 6 feet tall, and weigh between 3,000 and 5,000 pounds. It’s believed that the Australian Aborigines used to hunt these giant wombats, for food and for their fur.

You will find more Wombat facts at this link and ideas for ways to celebrate the Wombat with the children you love at this link. You will also find Wombats in my book - Megabats, Bengal Tigers, Quetzals & More!