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Zoo Miami recently announced the birth of a southern hairy-nosed wombat. This marks the first successful birth of this species in Zoo Miami’s history and the only successful birth of a southern hairy-nosed wombat in the United States this year.
The first-time parents are dad, Gordon who is 8.5 years old and came from the Los Angeles Zoo, and mom, Adelaid, who is 9.5 years old and arrived from the Brookfield Zoo. The joey is a female and estimated to have been born on Jan. 19 of this year.
The southern hairy-nosed wombat is the smallest of three species of wombats, all found in Australia, typically weighing between 45 and 65 pounds. It prefers drier habitats of grasslands and woodlands, where it feeds primarily on grasses and other vegetation. Southern hairy-nosed wombats are distinguished by their relatively large ears and broad snouts covered with fine hairs.
Wombats are round, robust animals equipped with powerful claws that make them exceptional diggers. They create extensive systems of burrows and tunnels, known as warrens, that can sometimes extend for hundreds of feet. These warrens also are important to other wildlife, providing shade, shelter, and refuge from dangers such as brushfires.
One of the wombat’s most unusual defense adaptations is its heavily reinforced rear end, which contains strong cartilage. When threatened, a wombat can use this powerful backside to block the entrance to its burrow and help defend itself against predators. And if that isn’t unusual enough, wombats also are the only mammals to produce cube-shaped poop, a fascinating result of the unique structure and function of their intestines.
Wombats are marsupials, meaning females raise their young in a pouch. Unlike the pouches of other marsupials such as kangaroos and koalas, a wombat’s pouch opens towards the rear. This unique adaptation helps prevent dirt from being thrown into the pouch while the mother is digging.
Following a pregnancy of approximately 30 days, the tiny baby, known as a joey, is born and crawls into the mother’s pouch, where it continues to develop for up to six months. Zoo Miami’s newest arrival only recently has begun emerging from the pouch, offering exciting first glimpses of this historic little joey.
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