Numbat Welfare and Survival in a Hostile Landscape

Numbats are Australia's most endangered marsupial, with fewer than 1,000 wild individuals surviving thanks to intensive management, predator control and captive breeding.

Key Facts

The wild numbat population is estimated at around 1,000 individuals in a handful of sites in Western Australia
Numbats are the only Australian marsupials that are exclusively diurnal
They feed almost entirely on termites — up to 20,000 per day
Foxes caused their near-extinction across almost all of their former range
A Perth Zoo captive breeding programme has bred over 200 numbats for wild release since 1993

Welfare Considerations

Wild numbats face intense predation pressure from introduced foxes despite extensive predator control programmes. Individuals caught by foxes suffer acute distress and physical trauma. The small remaining wild population means each individual death is a significant conservation event as well as a welfare one. Captive-bred numbats released to the wild require acclimatisation to predator avoidance — individuals that fail this suffer predation that could be prevented with better pre-release conditioning.

What You Can Do

Donate to Perth Zoo numbat breeding programme and Project Numbat
Support fox baiting programmes in remaining numbat habitat zones
Advocate for predator-free sanctuary development for numbat insurance populations
Raise awareness of the numbat's critical status through social media and community engagement