Numbat is an Australian marsupial with distinctive striped coloring. It grows about 10 inches (25 centimeters) long and has a bushy tail. The numbat is rusty-red above and white below. The hind third of the back is crossed by about six white stripes. A black stripe runs through the eye from snout to ear. Unlike many female marsupials, female numbats do not have an enclosed pouch for carrying their young. Instead, females have an open pouch with long guard hairs. The young cling to the mother’s hair and teats (nipples).
Numbats feed during the day on termites, which they catch by scratching open the insect’s underground tunnels. The termites are caught on the numbat’s long, sticky, cylindrical tongue. Numbats live in scrub woodland. They nest at night in hollow logs. The numbat was once common over much of the southern half of Australia but is now found only in the southwest corner. It is in danger of dying out completely.
