Hej Nathalie!

Vad kul att du tänkte skriva om vombater… Jag tänkte att uppmärksamma först att de heter "wombats" på engelska. Och jag kommer att fortsätta på engelska med lite mer roliga och, tycker jag, intressanta fakta.

Your essay is really well timed with the Wombat Day which is celebrated in Australia every year since 2005 on October 22. This day was chosen since it matched the ancient Wombat spring celebrations (that's right, in Australia October is the equivalent of April in Europe). The custom is that people bake a wombat cake and the recipe can be found here.

As you wrote above, wombats have a very muscular, sturdy body which makes them look like tiny bears. The first Europeans that spotted wombats in Australia, however, classified them as badgers. Their closest relative is actually the koala bear. However, compared to the koala bears which are the mammals with the smallest brain (in relation to their bodies), wombats have a huge brain - the largest brain among marsupials and also a relatively large brain among all mammals, when compared with their body size. Traditionally, they've been considered pretty dum animals, since they tend to bump into things. However, more recent data have shown that wombats are pretty smart animals. For example, when researchers set traps at the entrance of their burrows, the wombats didn't come out for a couple of days. Instead, they used the time to dig holes around the traps or simply dig another exit to their burrows. This way they avoided being trapped :)

They spend most of the day in those burrows, they are primarily nocturnal animals and come out to feed and do wombat "activities" at night. This way they avoid the heat of the day. This way they also conserve water and, as a matter of fact, wombats are among the animals that need least water in order to survive. They get most water from plants and roots, but also, when it rains, they tend to drink lots of water and conserve it for later :)

If you want to impress your teacher, you may use the word "herbivore" instead of "vegetarian" - it means animal that feeds on grass, roots and so on (just like the wombats, but also dears, etc.). And they do spend most of the time grazing, and eat grasses, bushes, mushrooms, bark, mosses (they apparently love mosses). Sometimes they may even end up eating vegetables from people's farms. They adapted to the arid landscapes of Australian by evolving a special digestive system which is more efficient than most other herbivores. Their digestion is extremely slow (8-14 days) and this way they can take advantage of all the nutritious elements in their food. Also, compared to other herbivores, who spend more than 10 hours / day grazing, they spend the least time doing so. Another adaptation is their rootless teeth which tend to grow continuously, like the teeth of the rabbits.

The species are called:

Bare-nosed wombat

Northern hairy-nosed wombat

Southern hairy-nosed wombat

When they are born, the wombat babies which are called "joeys" (like the babies of any other marsupial animal), weigh only about 2 grams. They will be spending many months (from 4 to 10 months, but the average is 8 months) in the pouch (or marsupium) before being able to come out. They usually stay with their mother for about 2 years before become independent. In general, wombats don't like the company of other wombats, sometimes though they may share burrows or feeding territory.

Finally, the oldest wombat known to people is Carver, a Southern hairy-nosed wombat - he was born in captivity and he lived 34 years. He died 2 years ago and if you want to read more about him, here's a link . His mother had also lived a long life, reaching the age of 24. Now, the oldest wombat still alive lives in Japan, his name is Chewbacca and he is 25 years old.

Lycka till med uppsatsen och hoppas att mitt inlägg kommer att vara till användning.

Tack så jättmycket det var mycket bra fakta!

Thank you ;)

Har inte med artickeln att göra med artickeln att göra, men jag såg ett avsnitt av "vilda familjen" på animal planet där de hade tre vombatar i barnens sovrum. Såå söta hur de gosade runt i sängen:)

#3 OT - det är ju Chris Humfrey's Wild Life! Älskar det programmet! :D

Haha vad mysigt! :>