A solitary marsupial with a long tapered snout, the Southern Brown Bandicoot is now an unusual sight due to the loss and degradation of its habitat. It is isolated to patches of native heath and other low vegetation that are large in size and occasionally burnt. It is nocturnal, sleeping during the day in concealed ground nests, mostly made of grass and plant material.

It feeds by foraging through the leaf litter and soil, creating conical shaped holes, to find earthworms, insects, fungi, roots, bulbs, fruit and seeds. It thrives in the diversity of plant regeneration and insect activity that occurs after a fire. Breeding season extends from winter to summer. Usually two to four babies are born in each litter and up to three litters can be born in one season.

Size: 330mm, tail 120mm.
Conservation status: V= NT, FFG= L, EPBC= EN

Illustration: Mark Trinham