rsk@pucc-k (Wombat) (09/09/85)
At the risk of restarting last year's lengthy plague of wombat articles... From the July 1985 issue of Omni, p. 34 (byline: George Nobbe) Hairy-Nosed Wombats The hairy-nosed wombat, an engaging little creature with a generous nature, appears to be staging a comeback from near extinction in arid south Australia, where a series of severe droughts has reduced its already dwindling numbers to a mere 30 or so. That is the opinion of conservation biologist Pamela J. Parker, of the Chicago Zoological Society, who spends much of her time counting heads in the wombat warrens of Australia's Nullarbor Plain, at the 14,000-acre Brookfield Conservation Park, near Blanchetown. "Conditions are ideal", she explains, referring to spring rains that improved the edible vegetation. "If they don't make a comeback now, they never will." But then life has never been easy for the hairy-nosed wombat. As the name implies, it's an unattractive beast that would much prefer to bask in the sun outside its burrow than to cope with encroaching habitat destruction and periodic drought or to compete for grass and plant life with such other vegetarians as sheep, kangaroos, and rabbits. Throughout the years, farmers have poisoned it, bounty hunters have shot it, aborigines have dined on it, feral cats have harassed it, and uninvited rabbits routinely move right into its complex warrens, some of which are 100 yards long, dug laboriously out of the calcrete rock. About the only defense the placid, noncombative wombat has against all these predations is to scurry into its burrow, twist hurriedly around, and clamp its rear end like a manhole cover up against the burrow's opening in the hope that the wombat's hide will be tough enough to discourage intruders. The peace-loving wombat could endure all of this, Parker says, if it weren't for the droughts. Annual rainfall sometimes drops below 10 inches, which limits the wombat's diet, reduces its weight from 50 to 20 pounds, and critically damages its sex life. "One of the features of wombat reproduction", the conservationist explains, "is the nutritional requirements of its food intake. That's why late winter rainfall is so important. Only one young wombat can be produced per year. Ovulation is tied tightly to the quality of forage early in the spring, so if late winter rains are lacking, the females forgo reproduction for that year." -- Rich Kulawiec rsk@pur-ee.uucp rsk@purdue.uucp rsk@purdue-asc.arpa
gordon@cae780.UUCP (Brian Gordon) (09/13/85)
In article <1238@pucc-k> rsk@pucc-k.UUCP (Wombat) writes: >At the risk of restarting last year's lengthy plague of wombat articles... (too late ...) >"Conditions are ideal", she explains, referring to spring rains that >improved the edible vegetation. "If they don't make a comeback now, >they never will." So, gang, this is our chance. If we can wipe them out now, the world will be free of WOMBATS forever!!! FROM: Brian G. Gordon, CAE Systems Division of Tektronix, Inc. UUCP: tektronix!teklds!cae780!gordon {ihnp4, decvax!decwrl}!amdcad!cae780!gordon {nsc, hplabs, resonex, qubix, leadsv}!cae780!gordon Down 58 3/4 pounds, and counting ...