2024 Year 7 Science - Australian Mammals

Wombats are the hobbits of the Australian bush. With his usual brilliance James Woodford explores the wombat's bizarre evolutionary history and perilous future: a mere 65 northern hairy-nosed wombats remain in the wild. But this book also tells the extraordinary story of Peter Nicholson, a schoolboy from Timbertop who in the 1960s learned more about the secret lives of these animals than anyone before him.

Far underground, where dirt and tree roots mesh, are tunnels that lead to a burrow, and in this burrow Wombat's day begins. A story about the life of a wombat, looking at the interesting way these animals burrow and defend their territory.

The wombat is one of Australia's most fascinating and engaging marsupials. It is unpopular with farmers but it can out distance a man or dog over short distances. It is quick to learn and is superbly adapted to its semi-nocturnal, burrowing way of life.