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Southern Brown Bandicoot

Role: Soil engineer

The Southern Brown Bandicoot is an excellent digger which improves soil health and helps plant germination. Its pregnancy lasts for just 14 days – the shortest gestation of any mammal.

DESCRIPTION

Medium-sized, ground dwelling native marsupial. Long pointed snout, small round ears, a large rump and a short thick tail. Brown fur with streaks of black, except on their belly which is creamy white.

HABITAT

Native vegetation with a thick, often shrubby understorey; examples include dense patches of bracken fern and yakkas which are at least knee high and difficult to walk through.

THREATS

Vegetation clearance, predation by foxes and cats.

DIET

Omnivorous diet of invertebrates, fungi, plant roots, ferns, seeds and berries.

BEHAVIOUR

Nocturnal, solitary marsupial. Southern brown bandicoots are important dispersers of seeds and fungi. They sleep in a nest made from grasses and other plant material, and at night emerge to feed.