The numbat is a striking ant- and termite-eating marsupial now confined to a few small populations in Western Australia, requiring intensive conservation management.
Numbats have no pouch and carry young clinging to their belly fur, making females carrying joeys extremely vulnerable. Introduced predators, particularly foxes and cats, decimated numbat populations across their former range. Current populations survive only inside predator-proof exclosures or on fox-and-cat-controlled reserves. Translocation programs involve capture, health screening, and transport stress. The animals need hollow logs for shelter and undisturbed termite mounds. Remaining habitat faces pressure from development and altered fire regimes.