Today I bring you some trivia about real wombats, courtesy of Wombania’s Wombat information centre:

1. Wombats are large burrowing marsupial mammals found only in Australia.


2. The two basic kinds of wombats are the Common wombat, and the Hairy-nosed wombat.


3. The average wombat is about 1 meter (40 inches) long and weighs about 25 kg (55 pounds).


4. The wombat has 24 rootless teeth that grow continuously to compensate for the wear caused by their diet of tough, fibrous grasses


5. In the wild, wombats live up to 12 years of age, however there is a Hairy-nosed wombat called Carver in a Chicago zoo that is 30 years old.


6. The common wombat can make a fist of its front paw, allowing it to pick up items or climb; however the Hairy-nosed wombat cannot.


7. A wombat can reputedly dig a hole faster than a man with a shovel.


8. Once born the baby wombat (or joey) will climb into its mother’s pouch and attach itself to one of the mother's teats. It will remain in the pouch for the next 4 to 10 months.


9. Some species of wombat can run a 100m distance in a similar time to an Olympic sprinter.


10. The pouch on a female wombat is rear-facing, preventing it from filling with earth when digging. The mother’s teat swells up in the joey’s mouth to help prevent the baby falling out of the pouch.