Numbat

Termite specialist

The numbat is one of the world’s most specialised feeders — its diet is 100% termites. It cannot eat ants (unlike true anteaters), does not eat other insects, and has never been recorded eating anything else in the wild. To find termites, it uses an acute sense of smell to locate galleries just beneath the surface of soil and rotting wood, then scratches the surface open with its forepaws and extracts termites with a long, sticky tongue.

The tongue

The numbat’s tongue — up to 11 cm long, with a sticky surface — flicks at up to 100 times per minute. The tongue is cylindrical, not flat, and fits through small holes scratched in termite galleries. Numbats are one of the few mammals without a functional digestive stomach; termites are processed in the intestines directly.

Diurnal marsupial

Almost all marsupials are nocturnal. The numbat is one of very few exceptions — it’s active during the day, when termites are warm and active near the surface. This also means it’s easier to see in the wild than most Australian marsupials.

Conservation status

Once widespread across southern Australia, the numbat was devastated by fox and cat predation. By the 1980s, fewer than 1,000 remained in a tiny area of Western Australia. Intensive predator control programs (1080 poison bait stations) in Project Numbat reserves have stabilised the population and enabled reintroductions to predator-free fenced sanctuaries in South Australia and NSW.

Emblem

The numbat is the faunal emblem of Western Australia.