Numbat - Healesville Sanctuary 2013

Can you be my bank manager, David? You're so much more understanding about life's real necessities...

zooboy28 said:

Ok, so its not actually a nocturnal exhibit! The Numbat is a retired breeding female from Perth, and the exhibit is in fact fully-lit, but the glass has been heavily tinted, so that it looks like the rest of the nocturnal exhibits! Its very well done.

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is this explained on a sign, or did you ask? If it isn't explained for all the visitors it seems a bit stupid because one of the more interesting things about numbats is that they are the only surviving fully diurnal marsupial.

Chlidonias said:

is this explained on a sign, or did you ask? If it isn't explained for all the visitors it seems a bit stupid because one of the more interesting things about numbats is that they are the only surviving fully diurnal marsupial.

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No, it wasn't on any signage, the keeper I talked to told me. I didn't know that, I suppose most of the macropods are crepuscular then?

the way I have always interpreted it is that all other marsupials fall into nocturnal, crepuscular or cathemeral. The numbat is the only solely diurnal species.

That's quite interesting, if accurate though I was always given to understand that the two species of Grey Kangaroo were also diurnal.

TeaLovingDave said:

That's quite interesting, if accurate though I was always given to understand that the two species of Grey Kangaroo were also diurnal.

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grey kangaroos are the most diurnally-active of the macropods (except the musky rat-kangaroo: see next paragraph) but they are not solely diurnal. In the wild they form smaller groups at or before dusk than they occur in during the day, but continue feeding and being generally active throughout the night. They would be best termed cathemeral.

However, it is come to my attention that musky rat-kangaroos are also fully diurnal. So there are actually two fully diurnal marsupials, numbat and musky rat-kangaroo.

So is it a case of pragmatism? That this was the most appropriate exhibit to house the numbat and the incidental fact that it's in the nocturnal house necessitated this solution?

I think it's fair enough but some signage would be appropriate for educational reasons, otherwise it is misleading.

Shirokuma said:

So is it a case of pragmatism? That this was the most appropriate exhibit to house the numbat and the incidental fact that it's in the nocturnal house necessitated this solution?

I think it's fair enough but some signage would be appropriate for educational reasons, otherwise it is misleading.

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I think that is the most likely reason (especially as Melbourne would likely be too cold to keep the numbat in an outside enclosure year-round).

Shirokuma said:

So is it a case of pragmatism? That this was the most appropriate exhibit to house the numbat and the incidental fact that it's in the nocturnal house necessitated this solution?

I think it's fair enough but some signage would be appropriate for educational reasons, otherwise it is misleading.

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I guess so, it doesn't seem to display very well (very shy) but I guess it would be even harder to see in a decent outdoor exhibit. I don't know of any reason why an outdoor exhibit would be inappropriate for husbandry reasons.

Mind you, an outdoor exhibit wouldn't have the stress of busloads of tourists banging on the glass.

Chlidonias said:

I think that is the most likely reason (especially as Melbourne would likely be too cold to keep the numbat in an outside enclosure year-round).

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But would it though? Didn't they use to live in Victoria? Perhaps not this far south though, and probably not in the cooler Healesville region.