A daytime termite hunter with pale bands across its back.
It has an elongated snout, pale bands across the back and rump, and a dark stripe through each eye.
At Dryandra Woodland in Western Australia, researchers used 11 radio-tracked numbats to study their night refuges. Occupied sites averaged about 5°C warmer than surrounding air. Burrows held a steadier temperature and reached higher minima than logs or tree hollows, though average temperatures did not simply differ by refuge type.
The authors estimated that warmer shelter can reduce resting energy use. For this daytime marsupial, an old hollow or burrow buffers the cool hours between termite-foraging days. The study sampled one woodland and a limited set of refuges across seasons, so the results cannot be assumed for every animal or site. They show why logs, hollows and burrows matter alongside feeding habitat.
Australian Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC Act) · Endangered · Australia (national statutory listing)
The numbat is listed as Endangered under Australia’s EPBC Act. The Australian Government’s page, updated on 28 April 2026, describes two wild populations in Western Australia at Dryandra and Upper Warren, with translocated or fenced populations elsewhere. Important habitat includes eucalypt woodland that supports termites and the logs and tree hollows used for overnight shelter. Government priorities include fire management, fox and feral-cat control, and improving habitat connectivity. The Australian legal category here is separate from a global IUCN assessment.