Rare white wombats discovered in the Outback

February 10, 2012

Look out your kitchen window during a locum job in Australia, and you'll likely see a furry brown creature digging burrows in your backyard. These short-legged marsupials are called wombats, and they're found in forested, shrub-like and mountainous areas mainly in southeastern Australia. What you probably won't see out your window? The white wombat, the unfortunate weaker link of the species because of its inability
to blend in with the surrounding habitat.

For the first time in 40 years, Australian wombat rescuers discovered two of the white, hog-like creatures living in the outback. Roaming through this territory is extremely dangerous for the small animals, as their easy-to-spot white fur is like a flashing neon sign to predators.

Val Salmon, the rescuer who discovered them, had only seen one other white southern hairy-nosed wombat in her lifetime. "It's mind boggling - just so unusual," Salmon stated to the Brisbane Times. She runs the Wombat and Fauna Rescue center in Ceduna, on the western coast of South Australia.

The wombats were suffering from malnutrition when Salmon found them, weighing 6.4 and 12 pounds respectively. After nursing them back to health, Salmon has weighed them in at about 24 pounds each. While on your Australian locum adventure, catch one of these wombats at a wildlife park, as the white animal is a protected species and can't be returned to the wild after being rescued.

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