Anteaters

The banded anteater is an alternative name for the numbat(Myrmecobius fasciatus), or walpurti in the local aboriginal dialect. It is one of the very few marsupials which is active during the day. At night, it nests in burrows or in hollow logs and trees. It is a marsupial, which means that its young are born extremely undeveloped, but unlike other marsupials, the numbat is unusual in that it does not have a pouch. Its young joeys cling to the mother's underside, still firmly attached to a teat like other marsupial joeys, and when the young become too large, they are transferred to a burrow, hollow log or other safe place.

The numbat is solitary, and territorially sets up and defends a space that can take up as much as 1.5 sq km/370 acres. It lives almost exclusively on termites, although it will sometimes eat ants. It used to range widely over Australia. But now it's found in two small areas of Western Australia, amongst wandoo and dryandra bushland in southeastern Western Australia. Estimates for the population of the numbat vary between 900 and 1500 numbats left in the wild.

The numbat is currently listed as endangered. The primary cause of them being endangered is the introduction of non-native species to Australia. Introduced species such as foxes, and feral cats and dogs, pose a considerable threat to the numbat, as it is a very small, defenceless creature.