On This Day - December 2nd 1970
The numbat is officially listed as endangered.
The numbat is a small, striped marsupial of Western Australia, and the faunal (animal) emblem of that state. Sometimes known as the banded anteater, it feeds almost exclusively on termites, and is Australia's only marsupial to do so. The numbat is unusual for several reasons; it is one of Australia's very few diurnal marsupials, and it does not have a full abdominal pouch, but rather an open pouch which lends little protection to the young which cling to the mother's underbelly while attached to the teat.
Numbats used to be widespread across the southern half of the continent, but numbers have declined severely since the beginning of European settlement in Australia. Numbats are now restricted to just a few areas of southwestern Western Australia. The introduction of predators such as cats, dogs and foxes have had a severe impact on numbat populations, as has land clearing for agriculture and changed fire regimes. Current figures estimate there are only about 1500 adult numbats remaining.
The numbat was officially listed as endangered on 2 December 1970. Since that time, the Department of Environment and Conservation of Western Australia has established a number of programmes to try and ensure the continued survival of this delicate and defenceless marsupial. In the 1980s, Perth Zoo also commenced a captive breeding programme for the purpose of releasing numbats back into protected wildlife reserves.