Burrows                                                                            More resources

• Southern Hairy-nosed Wombats dig and live in burrows, which are called warrens when they are connected and have many entrances.
• Warrens can be huge (even seen from space) and have numerous burrows, especially when dug under a hard layer of limestone (calcrete). This is found just below the surface of many parts of Mallee country.
• Some burrows measure 30 meters underground and have a single entrance, while others are interconnected.
• Wombats spend 75% of their time in burrows, only coming out to feed (forage) when conditions are favourable. Although wombats are usually nocturnal, you sometimes see them outside in day light when it is cold, especially if they are hungry and need to get warm.
• After foraging wombats return to their burrows and check the outside temperature before coming out again.

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​Wombat burrows are important in the environment. Watch this clip to see how.

• This article is about ‘wombat water diviners” and shows how one wombat burrow provided water for many native species in the 2020 drought. ​ 

Satellite tracking of SHN Wombat Colonies

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Southern Hairy-nosed warrens (a collection of burrows) can be visible from space. This is a satellite image was posted on the Southern Hairy-nosed Wombats - the Science Face Book page in November 2019. It shows a colony of warrens on the Nullarbor, with the trails that the wombats follow when moving between the warrens. 
 
This article gives some more in-depth information about the use of satellite technology to learn about how wombats live.

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