ORDER MARSUPIALIA I MARSUPIALS 73 



individual secured on Flinders' voyage and kept for two years as a 

 pet in a house in England. It appeared intelligent as well as at- 

 tached to its human friends. 



In their account of King Island, Peron and Freycinet (1816, 

 vol. 2, p. 14) describe the local Wombat as a gentle and stupid 

 animal, valuable for its delicate flesh. They also give an interesting 

 picture of its tractability. They say it had been reduced to a domes- 

 tic state by some English fishermen, going by day into the forests 

 to seek its food, and returning in the evening to the cabin which 

 served as its retreat. 



Spencer and Kershaw (19106, p. 48) write as follows: 



It is many years ago since the King Island wombat was exterminated. 

 When the island was visited by a party of the Victorian Field Naturalists 

 Club in 1887, no trace of it was discovered nor, during the process of clearing 

 the land that has been vigorously carried on during recent years, has any 

 record of a living wombat been made. 



Flinders Island afforded the only prospect of securing a living specimen 

 of the Bass Strait species. [In 1908] a considerable part of the north, north- 

 east, and north-west coast line was examined, and abundant evidence was 

 obtained to prove that the animal, though very rare and difficult to obtain, 

 was not extinct. In the deserted hut of a half-caste native at Killiecrankie 

 two skins were found. ... On the island there are, in addition to a few 

 settlers, a number of half-castes .... The existence of the wombat is well- 

 known to them, but it is by no means easy to secure. ... On Cape Barren 

 Island . . . the animal was found to be quite extinct, though well-known 

 under the name of "badger" .... 



The animal is now extinct everywhere except on Flinders Island. 



An animal as large as a Wombat, always limited in numbers by 

 an island habitat, could scarcely be expected to survive indefinitely, 

 when confronted by deforestation as well as by the presence of 

 settlers and half-castes who evidently prized its flesh. 



It is "now believed to be represented by small colonies on Flinders 

 Island. Observation and careful provision for their safety may be 

 necessary to avoid extinction." (E. Le G. Troughton, in litt., April 

 16, 1937.) 



"The Flinders Island wombat has been introduced, and there is a 

 small colony ... at Eddystone Point, North-East Tasmania. They 

 were liberated there by the lighthouse-keepers." (Lord, 1928, p. 20.) 



[The Tasmanian subspecies, Vombatus ursinus tasmaniensis 

 (Spencer and Kershaw), "has always and still does exist in large 

 numbers in Tasmania" (R. Boswell, in litt., May 13, 1937).] 



[The common Wombat (Vombatus hirsutus hirsutus (Perry)) is 

 still more or less numerous in wild and rugged portions of south- 

 eastern Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria. In southeastern 

 South Australia another subspecies, Vombatus hirsutus niger 

 (Gould), has been recognized; but no information concerning its 

 numerical status is at hand.] 



