Boodie facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Boodie |
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| Conservation status | |
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Bettongia
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lesueur
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| Boodie range (brown — native, pink — reintroduced) |
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The boodie (Bettongia lesueur), also called the burrowing bettong, is a small marsupial. It's a great example of how new animals can affect Australian wildlife and ecosystems. This animal was once the most common macropodiform mammal across Australia. Now, boodies mostly live on small islands off the coast. Some have also been brought back to the mainland at Shark Bay. The boodie was first found during a French trip in 1817. It was named after Charles Alexandre Lesueur, an artist and naturalist.
Contents
What is a Boodie?
The boodie belongs to the family Potoroidae, which includes potoroos and other bettongs. There are four types of animals in the Bettongia group. The boodie itself has three main types, or subspecies. One of these, B. l. graii, used to live on the mainland but is now extinct.
The name "boodie" comes from the Nyungar language of Southwest Australia. The word burdi was used for this animal.
Ancient History
Long ago, in the late Oligocene period, early relatives of the boodie appeared. At that time, the climate in Australia changed. It became drier, and rainforests turned into woodlands and swamps. This change helped many land-living marsupials, like the boodie's ancestors, to grow and spread.
Fossils of the boodie have been found in places like West Victoria, western New South Wales, and South Australia. This shows they once lived in many parts of Australia.
Appearance
The boodie is a small marsupial, about the size of a wild rabbit. It weighs around 1.5 kg. Its head and body are about 40 cm long. It looks a bit like a rat with short, round ears and a thick tail with a little hair.
Boodies have a pointed nose and small, black eyes. Their back legs are longer than their front legs, and they have large hind feet. Their fur is soft and woolly, usually yellow-gray on top and light gray underneath. They have a faint stripe on their hip and a clear white tip on their tail. Their tail can weakly grab things, which they use to carry materials for their nests. Male and female boodies look very similar.
How Boodies Have Babies
If conditions are good, boodies can have babies all year round. Males usually defend females from other males. A female boodie is pregnant for about 21 days, and she usually has only one baby at a time. Like other marsupial babies, the newborn is very small and helpless. It stays in its mother's pouch until it is about four months old.
After leaving the pouch, young boodies take six to seven months to become old enough to have their own babies. Females can mate again the day after giving birth. The fertilized egg stops growing until the first baby is weaned. This is called embryonic diapause. In places where they are cared for, females can have three babies in a year.
Where Boodies Live and What They Eat
Boodies used to live in many dry areas, from open eucalyptus and acacia forests to dry spinifex grasslands. Today, on the islands where they live, they prefer open spinifex and dune areas. They can dig burrows almost anywhere, except in very rocky places.
The burrowing bettong eats many different things. This includes seeds, fruits, flowers, tubers, roots, juicy leaves, grasses, fungi, termites, and even things found near the sea. They might also sneak into vegetable gardens! Their numbers go up when there's good rain and drop during droughts. In the wild, boodies can live for at least three years.
Predators
After people from Europe settled in Australia, new predators arrived. The main ones were the red fox and feral cats. On the islands, natural predators include the wedge-tailed eagle and sea eagles. On Barrow Island, large monitor lizards also hunt boodies.
Before they disappeared from the mainland, boodies played a very important role in the Australian grasslands. As they dug for food, they mixed dead plants into the soil. This helped spread fungi and seeds. Their digging also helped the soil soak up more water. It also reduced the amount of dry material under trees, which helped prevent large fires. These actions kept the balance of trees, shrubs, and grasses healthy. When these small, ground-digging animals disappeared after European settlement, it led to widespread soil problems.
Behavior
Boodies are quite noisy! They communicate with grunts, hisses, and squeals. They are the only macropodiform animals that live in burrows. Their burrows can be simple tunnels or very complex networks. These large burrow systems, called warrens, can have many entrances, sometimes up to 94!
Warren systems are shared by many boodies, usually 20 to 40 of them. Boodies seem to move between warrens, but they have one or two favorites. During the day, they form groups in the warrens, often one male with one or more females. Males do not share warrens with other males. Some female groups might be mothers and their daughters. However, when they go out to find food, they usually go alone.
Boodies are nocturnal, meaning they are active at night. They rest in their burrows during the day and search for food widely at night. They mostly move by hopping on their hind legs. Their front legs are used for support when they are still. They have a slow walk and a fast hop. The fast hop is typical for macropodiforms, where they use only their hind legs and their tail helps them balance. The slow walk is used when they are looking for food or are relaxed. They usually don't travel far at night, often less than 200 meters. But some have been known to travel over 2 kilometers looking for food. One boodie on Barrow Island traveled 5 kilometers! They use their sense of smell to find food, which they dig up with their strong front claws. Boodies can even climb into low bushes to find food.
Why Boodies Declined
Many reasons are thought to have caused the boodie's numbers to drop on mainland Australia after colonization.
- Hunting: In the 1800s, settlers killed boodies because they saw them as pests that damaged gardens.
- Habitat Loss: As farms and ranches spread, livestock grazing reduced the plants boodies needed for food and shelter.
- New Animals: Introduced animals like foxes, cats, and rabbits caused big problems. Foxes and cats hunted boodies, and rabbits competed with them for food and burrows.
- Fire Changes: Indigenous Australians used to manage the land with certain fire practices. When these stopped, the boodie's habitat likely changed in ways that hurt them.
By the 1960s, all boodies on the mainland were gone.
Helping Boodies Survive
The burrowing bettong once lived in almost all mainland Australian states. After their decline, only three small groups survived on offshore islands: Bernier and Dorre Islands in Shark Bay, and Barrow Island.
In 2006, the boodie was listed as "Vulnerable" on the IUCN Red List because it lived in such a small area. But thanks to successful conservation efforts, its status was changed to "Near Threatened" in 2008. This means their numbers and living areas have grown, and they are still increasing!
Many groups have helped bring boodies back. These include government agencies and private organizations like the Australian Wildlife Conservancy. New groups of boodies have been started in places like Herrison Prong on mainland Shark Bay, Faure Island, Scotia Sanctuary, and Yookamurra Sanctuary.
There are also plans to reintroduce boodies to Dirk Hartog Island after removing feral cats and farm animals. They will also be brought to large fenced areas at Newhaven in the Northern Territory, and Mallee Cliffs National Park and Sturt National Park in New South Wales.
Images for kids
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A boodie, also known as a burrowing bettong.
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Map showing the boodie's range. Brown areas are where they used to live, and pink areas are where they have been reintroduced.
Sources
- Tim Flannery (2007). Chasing Kangaroos: A Continent, a Scientist, and a Search for the World's Most Extraordinary Creature, ISBN: 978-0-8021-1852-3
See also
In Spanish: Betong de Lesueur para niños
