Those sweet furry little Tassie icons, the common wombat (Vombatus ursinus) are susceptible to sarcoptic mange, an infection of the skin caused by a parasitic mite, that can cause suffering and death, and, in one documented case at Narawntapu National Park, a large decrease in their numbers.
In 2017, to try and discover what was happening behind the scenes to our furry little friends the Department of Natural Resources and Environment (NRE) commenced an assessment of the prevalence of mange at a number of locations around Tasmania.
One of the locations is the 5,500 ha Musselroe Wind Farm at Cape Portland in Tasmania’s northeast, which has a high density wombat population where mange has been observed by the land managers.
NRE regularly conduct onsite surveys at Musselroe Wind Farm in Cape Portland to investigate the prevalence of sarcoptic mange in wombats. This regular monitoring gives a clear picture of the overall health of the resident wombat population and, with time, may provide insight into the factors that influence mange prevalence.
Happily, the 2024 report has come back and shown that this year mange was 4% in Musselroe wombats, the lowest mange prevalence recorded since surveys commenced, and 2.3% below the long-term average of 6.3%.
In other great news, a total of 611 wombats were observed this year, a 73% increase since August 2023. 14 of those wombats were observed with visible signs of an enlarged pouch or young at foot.