Wombats are slow-moving marsupials highly vulnerable to vehicle strikes, with road mortality being a significant welfare concern especially for pouch joeys.
Wombats killed by vehicles die from trauma, but joeys in the pouch may survive the initial collision and face slow death from cold, starvation, and injury without rescue. The welfare cascade from one vehicle strike can therefore involve multiple animals. Mange-affected wombats experience intense pruritus and skin damage over weeks before death. Treatment programs using ivermectin bait tubes provide effective mange control with minimal intervention.