There are three separate species of wombat and they all live in Australia. Common wombats live in eucalyptus forests and grasslands from the south of Queensland along the mountains of the Great Dividing Range to Victoria and South Australia. Two subspecies occur in Tasmania, where they are still quite common, and in Flinders Island in the Bass Strait, which separates Tasmania from the mainland.
The common wombat is not highly endangered but it has suffered from environmental pressures caused by people. Many populations have been destroyed by farmers who regard the wombats as vermin. They have also suffered through competition from rabbits, brought to Australia by European settlers over the last two centuries. The two other species of wombat, the southern hairy nosed wombat, which lives in southern Australia, as its name suggests, and the northern hairy nosed wombat (actually found now only in eastern Queensland) are both on the endangered list.
The common wombat is not highly endangered but it has suffered from environmental pressures caused by people. Many populations have been destroyed by farmers who regard the wombats as vermin. They have also suffered through competition from rabbits, brought to Australia by European settlers over the last two centuries. The two other species of wombat, the southern hairy nosed wombat, which lives in southern Australia, as its name suggests, and the northern hairy nosed wombat (actually found now only in eastern Queensland) are both on the endangered list.
