Efforts are underway to relocate some of the world’s rarest land mammals to a new home in a bid to save the species from extinction, with critically endangered northern hairy-nosed wombats being trapped and dragged 620km to a forest that is off-limits to the general public so a new colony can be established.

Known as the world’s largest burrowing mammal, it proved no match for the devastation wrought by the arrival of European settlers and only about 400 remain. Its eucalyptus forests were cleared by pastoralists in the 19th and 20th centuries, and it has faced competition from livestock and other introduced species.

Images provided to Yahoo News by the Queensland Department of Environment (DESI) highlight the trapping operation, which is underway in Epping Forest National Park, 855km northwest of Brisbane. Fifty-three traps are set and moved each day to prevent the wombats from becoming wary of them.

How many wombats will be relocated?

The captured animals are then taken to a new habitat in Powrunna State Forest, a 2800-hectare area in the state’s southwest, where a new population is being established. Fifteen of them were taken to the site earlier this year and there is excitement as some of the females carry their young in a pouch.

The immediate plan is to catch 10 more females and five males to create a viable population at Powrunna, but rangers hope to relocate 60 in the next three years.

“This second translocation of wombats is another important step in the ongoing conservation efforts for this critically endangered species,” said Dave Harper, DESI’s Chief Conservation Officer.

“Every time we catch a wombat there is great excitement because all the effort, planning and hard work that has gone into this project is paying off.”

Why do wombats need to be relocated?

The plan is necessary because until now they have been confined to just two locations in the world – Epping Forest and the Richard Underwood Nature Refuge, near the town of St George. This makes them particularly vulnerable to extinction. Translocation is a slow process, and a fourth site is not expected to be established until 2041.

In the 1980s, the population at Epping fell to just 35 individuals, but is now estimated at 300. Ongoing conservation efforts are expected to give the species a chance of survival in the future.

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