These little marsupials were fitted with high-tech, custom-made collars to track how they cope with heat, in an exciting new research collaboration between University of New South Wales (UNSW) PhD researcher Courtney Adams, and the Perth Zoo Science team.

These tiny accelerometer collars, much like a fitness tracker for humans, record detailed data on the Numbats’ movements in different temperatures.

The Perth Zoo Science team are helping to collect this data, as well as camera footage of the Zoo’s Numbats, to compare with data from Numbats living in the wild.

By better understanding how Numbats behave in different weather conditions, we can choose the best locations for Numbats to be released into the wild, and create strategies to protect the environments these endangered Numbats are currently living in.

Perth Zoo is the ONLY zoological institution in the world that breeds Numbats, releasing more than 300 of these precious marsupials back into protected wild habitat to guard them from extinction.

The latest cohort of joeys have begun to explore the world behind-the-scenes at Perth Zoo, and when they’re old enough, we hope they will join their fellow Zoo-born Numbats to live in the Aussie bush!

Results from this important research will help us to support both our wild and Zoo-born Numbat populations in times of drought and heatwave, so they have a safe and secure future.

Stay tuned for updates as these Numbats embark on this exciting new research assignment.

Happy World Numbat Day!

You can support our important conservation work for Numbats and many other endangered species by donating to Perth Zoo.