Bilby
Bilbies are members of a group of ground-dwelling marsupials known as bandicoots which have long, pointed snouts and compact bodies and rabbit like ears. . Males are usually twice as large as females and can weigh up to 2.5 kg. Bilbies differ from other bandicoots by their larger ears, long silky fur and long tails (20 to 29cm). They also have different burrowing habits and a specialised diet.
The bilby's soft fur is mainly blue-grey, with white or cream on the belly and two fawn stripes on each hip. The tail is black with a crest of white hairs towards the end. Bilbies have slender hindlimbs with a large middle toe like a kangaroo, and very strong forelimbs and claws which they use for burrowing and digging for food.
The large, almost hairless ears of bilbies are important for keeping them cool, as well as for hearing predators. Although they have poor vision, their smell and hearing senses are very good.Bilbies have long slender tongues which they use for licking food such as seeds from the ground. They also dig for insects and insect larvae, bulbs, fruit and fungi. As surface water is often scarce in arid areas, bilbies obtain water from their food.
While bilbies are mostly solitary, they sometimes live in small groups of two to four. They breed throughout the year, possibly depending on rainfall and food availability. As with other bandicoots, bilbies have a short gestation period - only 14 days. Young are carried in the pouch for 75 days following birth and become independent quickly. In ideal conditions, females produce four litters of one to three young every year. Bilbies live for up to seven years in captivity although their life span in the wild is unknown.
Chuditch
The Chuditch or Western Quoll is the largest carnivorous marsupial found in Western Australia. An average adult male weighs about 1300g and females about 900g. Both sexes have pointed faces and large rounded ears. The eyes are also large. The coat is strikingly marked, with 40-70 white spots scattered randomly over the brown fur on the head and back. The tail is shorter than the head and body length and has a brush-like appearance.
Breeding season extends from late April to early July. Each female may mate with several different males over a period of about a week. Gestation takes less than three weeks and newborn young are about the size of a grain of rice (4.6 mm long). Litters range in size from 2 to 6 young. Female Chuditch carry their young in a rudimentary pouch for the first nine weeks of life. After this, the young have grown quite heavy and are left in a burrow whilst their mother forages. By the age of 16 weeks, the young are exploring outside their den. They learn to hunt without their mother's help. While Chuditch have been known to live for at least 5 1/2 years in captivity, wild individuals normally die before their fourth year.
Numbat
The Numbat is a unique pouchless marsupial. It is a small (35-45 cm) animal with a reddish brown coat which blends from darker shades on the back to light on the stomach. Across the back are prominent white bands, and it has a bushy tail. Each animal can be identified by its individual markings. The Numbat is the mammal emblem of Western Australia.
Mating occurs during the summer months and the young are born 14 days later. The female usually has 4 babies, which attach themselves to teats and cling to body hair. They will suckle for 6 months. As the young Numbats develop and become too large to be carried, the female will dig a burrow for them whilst she searches for food. When travelling with older babies, the numbat will carry them clinging to her back. By 10 months they will be feeding independently, but will stay close to the mother for another 2 months. Numbats are sexually mature at 1 year and will live for 5-6 years.
Numbats, along with Echidnas, are unusual in that they live on a pure termite diet. An adult requires some 20,000 per day. Having located and breached a termite nest, the numbat's long tongue flicks the termites into its mouth.
Quolls
Quolls are medium to large sized marsupials with a pointed snout and a long tail. They have brown to black fur covered in distinctive white spots, and cream to white fur on their bellies.
They are lively and sometimes aggressive animals, with bright eyes, a moist pink nose and many sharp teeth. Quolls are mainly carnivorous (flesh-eating) and prey on a variety of animals. The largest quoll species, the spotted-tailed quoll, eats birds, reptiles and mammals such as bandicoots, possums, echidnas and rabbits. The smaller quolls eat mainly insects, birds, frogs, lizards, snakes, small mammals and fruit. Quolls also eat carrion (dead animals), and sometimes scavenge arÃound campsites and rubbish bins.An interesting feature of quoll behaviour is their use of shared latrine (toilet) sites. These are located in open spaces such as rock ledges and have up to 100 droppings piled up.
Quolls have short lifespans, and reach sexual maturity at one year of age. The smaller quolls only live an average of 2 years, while the larger spotted-tailed quoll lives about 4 to 5 years.
Thylacine
The Thylacine was Australia's largest carnivorous (meat-eating) marsupial. Its fur was short, thick, coarse and sandy brown in colour. Distinctive dark brown stripes across the back, rump and base of tail lead to this animal commonly being called a 'tiger'. The jaws of the Thylacine were powerful and capable of opening wide, a useful feature when capturing prey. The adult body was about 1 metre long with a 65cm tail. Adults weighed 15 to 35 kg.
The Thylacine communicated by a range of noises from a coughing bark to a whining cry. Like many marsupials they were mainly active at night. The Thylacine usually hunted alone, preying on kangaroos, wallabies, small mammals and birds.
The Thylacine mated from winter to spring. The female had two or three young at a time, carrying them in a pouch which opened backwards. Young Thylacines left the pouch after three months but stayed close to the nest or their mother until they were able to hunt for themselves.
The Thylacine lived in open forests and grassy plains, sheltering in nearby rocks during the day. According to fossil records this species occurred on the Australian mainland and in Papua New Guinea. Scientists believe that the Thylacine disappeared from these two areas about 2 - 3 000 years ago. By 1863 the Thylacine only remained in remote areas in Tasmania and was last seen in the wild in 1933. Rock paintings of the Thylacine in the Kimberley region of Western Australia and in the Northern Territory remain as evidence of their existence.
Northern Hairy-nosed Wombat
The Northern Hairy-nosed Wombat is a marsupial with a backward facing pouch. The curious name comes from its distinctive muzzle which is covered with short brown hairs. It is strong and heavily built, with short, powerful legs and strong claws that are used to dig burrows or search for suitable plants and roots to eat. Its fur is soft, silky, and mainly brown, mottled with grey, fawn and black. It has a broad head with black patches around their eyes. The ears are long and slightly pointed with tufts of white hair on the edges.
There are three species of wombat in Australia. The Northern Hairy-nosed Wombat is the largest, 1 metre long, 35cm high and 35 kg weight. The other two are: Common Wombat (Vombatus ursinis) this wombat occurs in southeastern Australia. It has a smaller tail and shorter, more rounded ears than the Northern Hairy-nosed Wombat. It is nocturnal during the summer, but in winter it often comes out of its burrow during the day. The Common Wombat breeds at any time of the year. They live to 5 years in the wild, and up to 3 years in captivity. Southern Hairy-nosed Wombat (Lasiorhinus latifrons) occurs in parts of southern South Australia and southeastern Western Australia. It is the smallest of the three wombats in Australia and has softer fur. The Southern Hairy-nosed Wombat breeds from late September through to December.