What is the wombat's biggest environmental threat?

Answer 1

The greatest environmental threat to the wombat's survival is loss of habitat caused by human settlement. Agriculture and the destruction of the wombat's grassland habitat has caused the wombat to have to move to mountainous, unsettled areas where they are less able to dig effective burrows. Consequently, they are more likely to fall prey to dingoes and wild feral dogs. Stock animals (cattle and sheep) and the introduced rabbit have also degraded their natural food source, which is mostly grasses and shrubs.

In 2012, a new environmental threat to the wombat's survival has emerged; the introduction of non-native grasses which, when ingested instead of native grasses, causes liver disease in the southern hairy-nosed wombat. This has been particularly evident around the Murraylands in eastern South Australia,where noxious introduced weeds such as onion weed have all but stamped out native grasses.