Rockhampton Zoo wombat baby at Rockhampton Zoo

[Chlidonias]

Research into endangered wombats gets boost - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

The Rockhampton Zoo says the birth of a baby wombat will help protect one of its endangered cousins.

The zoo has a collection of southern hairy nosed wombats to help its research into the critically endangered northern hairy nosed wombat, of which there are only 120 left in the wild in central Queensland.

University of Queensland PHD student Chris Descovich says the birth of the southern hairy nosed joey may help to find a way to improve the fertility of the Northern variety.

"That's very special because it's hard to breed in captivity, and because information on the southern hairy nose is critical for the conservation for the northern hairy nosed wombat," he said.

"We have 12 southern hairy nosed wombats and the joey."

 

[Kifaru Bwana]

Rockhampton Zoo is not listed on ISIS. Judging from the statistics though it is the highest population is captivity at 13 individuals.

Correct me, if I am wrong, I think just Melbourne and Taronga in Australia may have bred the species.

In the US, just Chicago Brookfield has had a history of breeding southern hairy-nosed wombats with any degree of success. Their latest joey was born in 2008!

What is worrying in this species captive population is that in the US 2 males are without any mates (Memphis and Metro Toronto) and in Australia both Steve Irwin's Australia Zoo and Symbio have only females with no access to a male.