ORDER MARSUPIALIA: MARSUPIALS 75 



recorded by Kershaw (1909, p. 118) from Deniliquin, N. S. W., 

 close to the Victorian border. 



"Although in some parts of the colony [South Australia], es- 

 pecially on Yorke's Peninsula and about Port Lincoln, the holes of 

 these Wombats are very numerous, yet the animals are but rarely 

 seen. Many of the oldest colonists have informed me that they 

 never saw a Wombat alive. . . . The flesh they [the blacks] de- 

 scribe as being like pork, and excellent eating." (Gould, 1863, vol. 1, 

 p. 68.) 



"It could probably hold its own under present day conditions, and 

 with existing introduced enemies, if only it had adequate protection 

 from man. That Wombats are harmless to small holders is not con- 

 tended. So bulky an animal which drives tunnels with such ease 

 is not, of course, desirable in closely settled or intensively worked 

 agricultural areas. But South Australia possesses vast tracts where 

 Wombats might burrow and live without detriment to any human 

 enterprise. In these areas they need protection from man alone." 

 (Jones, 1924, p. 270.) 



"Being in grave danger of extermination, and having a distribu- 

 tion restricted to South Australia, it is the intention of the [Fauna 

 and Flora] Board to attempt to acclimatise the wombat on Kangaroo 

 Island; the sending of a single specimen to the Chase on October 1, 

 1926, may therefore be recorded; others will be forwarded as soon 

 as obtained" (Waite and Jones, 1927, pp. 323-324). 



On the other hand, H. H. Finlayson (in Hit., March 20, 1937) 

 considers the species still "plentiful in a restricted habitat." 



Le Souef and Burrell (1926, pp. 293, 295) write as follows: 



The . . . hairy-nosed wombat is found in the drier inland areas; it also 

 lives along the coast of the Great Australian Bight .... 



The hairy-nosed wombat has been killed out over a large part of its range. 

 In the Riverina, where at one time it was fairly plentiful, the settlers had 

 to get rid of it as part of the campaign against the rabbits, which pests had 

 a very secure harbour in wombat burrows. 



The skin is not put to any commercial use, though the aborigines use the 

 fur of Ph. latijrons for making string, coils of which are wound round their 

 hair. 



On its economic status E. Le G. Troughton remarks (in litt., 

 April 16, 1937) : "Colonies were exterminated near settlement be- 

 cause of damage to fencing and crops, and risk of injury to stock 

 in the burrows." 



Southern Queensland Hairy-nosed Wombat 



LASIORHINUS LATIFRONS GILLESPIEI (De Vis) 1 



Phascolomys gillespiei De Vis, Annals Queensland Mus., no. 5, p. 14, pis. 9, 10, 



1900. (Moonie River, southeastern Queensland.) 

 FIG.: De Vis, 1900, pi. 10. 



1 For the use of this combination, see Longman, 1939, p. 286. 



