Wombat Life Span
A baby Southern hairy nosed wombat (picture courtesy Wendy Morphett, used with permission)
In the wild, the Bare-nosed or Common wombat can live to over 5 years, up to 15 years by some accounts. In 1906 a Bare-nosed wombat in London Zoo died at 26 years and 1 month old. Chewbacca was the oldest Bare-nosed wombat alive when he passed away in the Tama Zoo in Japan in November of 2014. He was 29 years and 8 months old. Currently there are two other Bare-nosed wombats who are 29 years old, Hiroki in the Kanazawa Zoo in Japan, and Patrick in the Ballarat Wildlife Park in Australia.
Carver, a Hairy-nosed wombat in the Brookfield zoo in Chicago, Illinois (USA), lived to be 34 years old. That is the oldest documented age of any wombat, captive or wild. The average life span of a Hairy-nosed wombat in the wild is estimated to be 10-12 years. A Hairy nosed wombat that was caught twice in the wild, many years apart, confirmed that they can live to at least 20 years in their native habitat.
To read more about the world's oldest wombat, visit Carver's page here, and the notice of his death here.
by Peter Marinacci
