Tracking what's alive on Earth and what affects it.
Humans, now
On the wall: 1,000 or fewer left in the wild
Northern hairy-nosed wombat
about400
Estimate, no range
2022
Lasiorhinus krefftii
Central Queensland, Australia (Epping Forest NP, Richard Underwood Nature Refuge, Powrunna State Forest)
Counted 2022, by the Queensland Government.
The northern hairy-nosed wombat stands at about 400 animals, an estimate with no range, from the Queensland Government's 2022 census.
About 400 northern hairy-nosed wombats at the 2022 census, nearly all at one site, and the Queensland Government reports numbers steadily rising.
How it was counted
The figure is the estimate from the Queensland Government's 2022 census, counting animals and published with no range. The source gives it in its account of Epping Forest National Park (Scientific) and does not say whether it includes the wombats in the new colonies at Richard Underwood Nature Refuge and Powrunna State Forest.
This is an estimate published with no range, so read it as about 400 wombats rather than exactly 400.
What moves it
The Queensland Government names predators such as wild dogs and dingoes, large bushfires, drought, disease, invasive weeds and reduced genetic diversity as pressures, and notes that almost all the wombats live at the same site.
- predation by wild dogs and dingoes.
Predators, such as wild dogs, dingoes
Source: Queensland Government. - almost all wombats at one site.
still has a high risk of extinction, with 95% of the population existing at one location
Source: Queensland Government. - large bushfires.
Large-scale bushfires
Source: Queensland Government. - reduced genetic diversity.
Reduced genetic diversity
Source: Queensland Government. - drought.
Drought
Source: Queensland Government. - disease.
Disease
Source: Queensland Government. - invasive plants (weeds).
Invasive plants (weeds)
Source: Queensland Government.
Who is helping
The Queensland Government manages and protects the wombats at Epping Forest National Park (Scientific), where a fence keeps out wild dogs and dingoes, and has started new colonies at Richard Underwood Nature Refuge and Powrunna State Forest. Glencore funds the Powrunna colony in a partnership with The Wombat Foundation (which provided transport boxes) and the Gunggari Native Title Aboriginal Corporation, and the Australian Wildlife Conservancy manages the Richard Underwood colony.
The next count
Counts are irregular, and no date for the next count is known as of 12 November 2026.
Sources
- Queensland Government Last checked 12 November 2026.
What changed
- 12 November 2026 Added to Live Species, on the wall (1,000 or fewer): About 400 (Estimate, no range, 2022).
Next on the wall
The letter
The letter comes once a month, on the first Thursday. It gives what changed on Live Species, one animal up close and the humans figure for contrast.