#093 Reviving a Vanishing Giant: The Northern Hairy-nosed Wombat’s Fight for Survival with Andy Howe

Andy Howe from the Australian Wildlife Conservancy joins the show to talk about one of the most remarkable conservation comebacks in Australian history: the northern hairy-nosed wombat, a species that dropped to just 35 individuals in the 1980s and now sits at around 400.Andy walks through the science of monitoring an animal that's almost impossible to study directly from DNA collection using sticky tape to cutting-edge ground-penetrating radar that maps burrow systems in 3D. He explains how two surprisingly simple interventions, fencing and permanent water, drove a major population turnaround at Epping Forest National Park.We also cover the wider world of Australian wombats and marsupials, the ongoing threat of habitat loss and disease, and AWC's ambitions to return the species to its historic range in southern New South Wales after more than a century of local extinction.If you've ever wondered what it actually takes to bring a species back from the brink, this one's for you.Photo Credit: Brad Leue/AWCMore Informationhttps://www.australianwildlife.org/https://www.australianwildlife.org/animals/northern-hairy-nosed-wombathttps://www.australianwildlife.org/news-and-resources/press-release/historic-agreement-to-protect-critically-endangered-northern-hairyhttps://www.australianwildlife.org/news-and-resources/news/meet-the-people-of-awc-senior-field-ecologist-andy-howehttps://www.australianwildlife.org/news-and-resources/press-release/advanced-radar-tech-deployed-in-pursuit-to-protect-northern-hairyhttps://www.australianwildlife.org/news-and-resources/press-release/stumbling-across-rare-footage-of-a-young-critically-endangeredhttps://www.australianwildlife.org/news-and-resources/press-release/scat-and-sticky-tape-helping-save-the-critically-endangeredIf you enjoy this podcast, please like and subscribe to our show wherever you get your podcasts.Leave us a review and share this show with your friends.It really helps us to reach more citizen scientists, like you.Contact the ShowWe are always looking for more guests to tell us about interesting citizen science projects, research and events.You can email us at: [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.