• A Charles Sturt academic has published an article looking into the eating habits of the northern hairy-nosed wombat
• The study found the species were consuming more of an invasive vegetation species, buffel grass
• The project was funded by The Wombat Foundation and conducted in collaboration with the Queensland Department of Environment and Science and Western Sydney University

A Charles Sturt University researcher’s latest work is helping crack the code to save Australia’s critically endangered northern hairy-nosed wombat.

Senior Lecturer in Animal Anatomy and Physiology in the Charles Sturt School of Agricultural, Environmental and Veterinary Sciences Dr Hayley Stannard published a research article into the eating habits of the Australian native species.

Dr Stannard said the article, titled ‘Assessment of the diet of the critically endangered northern hairy-nosed wombat (Lasiorhinus krefftii) using DNA metabarcoding’, allowed her to determine what types of vegetation the species was consuming.

“By understanding their nutritional and dietary habits, we are then able to move forward looking into how to best improve the wombats’ health and, in an ideal scenario, get to a point where they are no longer critically endangered,” Dr Stannard said.

The northern hairy-nosed wombat is the largest of the three wombat species, with a current estimate of 350-400 individuals, based on expected growth rates, making up their population.

The population is contained within two fenced locations in Queensland, Epping Forest National Park (EFNP) and Richard Underwood Nature Refuge (RUNR), with an intended translocation planned in 2024 to a new, third site at Powrunna State Forest.

Dr Stannard said these areas have also proven beneficial in being able to study the species, with her latest work centering around the invasive buffel grass (Cenchrus ciliaris) native to Africa, southern Europe, Asia and parts of the Middle East.

“Buffel grass has been increasing in the wombats’ habitats and often outcompetes native grasses and other vegetation,” she said.

“It also poses an additional risk in that it can intensify fires.”

Through the study, Dr Stannard said they were able to determine if wombats were changing their eating habits around the invasive grass species.

“We used wombat scats collected by our colleagues at the Department of Environment and Science and extracted the DNA, specifically looking for DNA sequences from plants,” she said.

“Our study found that the northern hairy-nosed wombats were mostly eating grasses and some legumes.

“We made comparisons between the two sites where the wombats live and across seasons, and found that while they ate a few other species, they mostly ate buffel grass at both sites and regardless of the season.”

This consumption of buffel grass has increased since past studies conducted more than two decades ago, according to Dr Stannard, which previously used histological techniques as opposed to DNA metabarcoding.

“Our results suggest buffel grass is dominating the habitat, supporting other studies, which may be causing native grasses to be reduced or disappear from the habitats,” she said.

“We identified that the wombats were eating more species of plant than previously reported, and all wombats were eating large proportions of buffel grass.

“Further studies are needed to investigate the role of buffel grass in the nutrition of one of our most critically endangered species, to determine if it is impacting their overall health.”

The project was funded by The Wombat Foundation, whose director Josey Sharrad said collecting the animals’ “rare, square poos” helped unlock a wealth of information.

“We have discovered the secret eating habits of one of the world’s most endangered animals,” she said.

“Each valuable nugget contains information key to their future survival, so now we now know more about what they need, not only to survive but thrive in their new home.” 

The research was conducted in collaboration with the Queensland Department of Environment and Science and Western Sydney University with Associate Professor Julie Old and Master of Research student Fiona Casey.