This is the rarest animal in the world



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This is the rarest animal in the world
This is the rarest animal in the world

The northern hairy-nosed wombat only survives in a very small area of 3 km² within Epping Forest National Park (32 km²), Queensland. It is considered by many to be the rarest animal in the world. It is one of the world's rarest large mammals and is critically endangered.

Slightly larger than the common wombat, it is able to reproduce a little faster. Its habitat has been infested by an African grass, Cenchrus ciliaris, which is slowly displacing the original favorite grasses of the wombat. In 2000, a two-metre high predator-proof fence was built around a 25 km² area of the park, but captive breeding and re-housing programs in other areas have now been abandoned, as the population of the the only remaining yaminon colony is considered too small to allow the collection of the 15 or 20 specimens necessary to establish a new colony and more than a decade of attempts to breed the common and southern hairy-nosed wombats in captivity have yielded only poor results .

The Northern hairy-nosed wombat is listed as Threatened by the Australian Species Profile and Threats Database (SPRAT) and as a critically endangered species by the IUCN. The Zoological Society of London, on the basis of evolutionary uniqueness and population scarcity criteria, considers Lasiorhinus krefftii one of the 100 mammalian species at greatest risk of extinction.

Larger than other wombats and weighing around 30 kg, this species displays a stocky and stocky build. The body, about one meter long, is covered in soft, silky greyish-brown fur, with dark rings surrounding the eyes. The limbs are short and powerful, equipped with robust nails to be able to dig dens.

The females have a pouch with an opening in the posterior region to prevent the entry of earth during the digging phase. The common name derives from the broad muzzle covered with a thin whisker. Like all wombats, this species is also herbivorous and nocturnal and spends the hot days underground, where it produces a complex system of tunnels used simultaneously by groups of 4-5 individuals.

The females give birth to a single young which subsequently moves into the marsupium, where it spends about 9 months to complete its development. In the wild it can live even more than 23 years.