This is where numbats were found before Europeans came to live in Australia in 1788.

FOOD

Numbats have a long sticky tongue as you can see in the picture. This tongue is used to collect termites and sometimes ants that the numbat finds in rotten wood and fallen logs. These are the only food that numbats eat.

NAMES

The scientific name for the numbat is Myrmecobius fasciatus. The word myrmex means ant. Bios means life and fasciatus means striped.

It is no surprise that early Europeans called this little animal a banded anteater or marsupial anteater. Different Aboriginal people also have names for the numbat. One of these names is walputi.

NEST

During the night, numbats rest in their burrow. At the end of their two metre long burrow, the numbat builds a nest of dry leaves and bark. The entrance to the burrow is    usually hidden beneath a log or a fallen tree.

RANGE

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Numbats

I use my long, sticky tongue to eat about 15 000 termites a day. My enemies are foxes, carpet pythons, eagles and hawks.

Numbats are delightful little Australian animals.

UNUSUAL

They are quite unusual for several reasons. Firstly , numbats are diurnal. That means that they are active during the day. Most Australian marsupials are nocturnal which means they are active at night.

DESCRIPTION

Overall, a numbat can be about 40 centimetres long. Half of that length is its long bushy tail. The numbat has pale stripes across the fur on its reddish-brown back. There is also a dark stripe going through the numbat's eye and this makes it look like it is wearing a mask.

This is where numbats can be found now.