Endangered native numbats are under increasing pressure from climate change, with a new study revealing the furry predators overheat when the temperature soars.

January 12, 2024

Global warming is impacting an unusual and endangered marsupial’s ability to hunt for food using its incredibly long tongue, a study has found.

There are only about 2000 numbats left in their native habitat in Western Australia after land clearing and introduced predators, including foxes and feral cats, decimated them.

That number could fall even further as the climate warms after Curtin University researchers found the furry and pint-sized predator overheats when temperatures soar.

It’s limiting the distinctive-looking stripped mammal, which predominantly survives in two pockets of bushland in the south of the state, to 10 minutes of activity in the sun in hot conditions above 40C.

“If it is too hot, the time that the numbats can be out and about foraging will be reduced, which means they may not be able to find enough food to meet their energy requirements,” Zoologist Christine Cooper said on Thursday.

“So high temperatures can be problematic for numbats by potentially limiting their food intake.”

Numbats used to be found across southern Australia, extending from the west coast to northwest Victoria and western NSW.

By the 1970s, the termite eater, also known as a banded anteater, had disappeared from 99 per cent of its range.

It remains in natural populations in two areas of bushland in WA’s southwest and some conservation sites where it has been re-introduced.

Unlike most native Australian species, numbats, which are about 25cm long,  are active during the day and are carnivorous.

They feed by poking their 10cm long and sticky tongue into the earth and eat up to 20,000 termites per day.

At night, numbats hide in logs, tree hollows or burrows.

The research team used thermal imaging to study numbats in the Dryandra Woodland, near Narrogin in WA’s wheatbelt.

“Understanding how the numbat responds to and manages heat is essential to understanding its ecology and has particular relevance for the future conservation and management of the species in the face of global warming,” Dr Cooper said.

WA has warmed by about 1.3C since 1910, according to the state government.

Rainfall has also increased over most of the state, apart from the far west and southwest where it has declined.

The decline in the southwest has been larger than anywhere else in the country due to widespread land clearing.

The study findings were published in the Journal of Experimental Biology.

Numbats are WA’s faunal state emblem.