New technology being used to explore outback wombat burrows
Conservationists are hopeful new technology will ensure the survival of one of the world's most endangered animals. Ground penetrating radar is being used to explore northern hairy nosed wombat burrows in outback Queensland.
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00:00 Cute and cuddly, but critically endangered.
00:05 Land clearing and pests have destroyed much of the northern hairy-nosed wombat's habitat.
00:10 It's the largest burrowing herbivore in the world.
00:14 Only two colonies remain in Queensland.
00:17 One is at Epping Forest near Clermont, the other is a nature refuge near St George.
00:24 Scientists and advocates are wanting to move the mammal to more sites.
00:28 So one of the big threats for an isolated population like that is that all your eggs
00:32 are in one basket.
00:34 So if there's a drought or a catastrophic fire at Epping, that's where the majority
00:38 of the animals are and there's no space for error.
00:42 But to secure that future, a better understanding of the wombats is needed.
00:46 A study in St George is using new technology to look into their burrows.
00:51 So we're using a multi-array ground penetrating radar system that shoots radio waves into
00:55 the ground and it records a signal coming back up and that's how we see our targets.
01:01 Conservationists estimate there are only 315 of the marsupials left and projects like this
01:07 are critical to their survival.
01:09 I'm amazed at their ability to survive, to come back from the brink the way they have.
01:17 The state government has already secured a third secure site.
01:21 Conservationists hope one day northern hairy-nosed wombats will return to the wild.
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