How fast does a wombat really run? An investigation into the 40 kph phenomenon
Did you ever hear the animal “fact” that a wombat could beat the world’s fastest human, Usain Bolt, in a footrace?
Bolt’s world record 100-metre run was completed in 9.58 seconds at an average speed of 37.58 kilometres per hour.
And while Bolt briefly hit just under 44 kph in his best run, a wombat, so we’ve been told, could outpace the Jamaican great at 40 kph over the same distance for a nine-second run.
But where does this wombat or wombolt fact actually come from?
They couldn’t find a primary source like a study, field observation or research paper to back up the marsupial’s oft-repeated top speed.
This was despite the figure showing up time and time again in animal textbooks.
Now, an exhaustive ABC investigation has tracked down the truth of the 40kph sprinting wombat myth.
Jamaican sprint king Usain Bolt’s world record is reportedly no trouble for a wombat.(Nick Webb, Usain Bolt, CC BY 2.0 DEED and Big Blue Ocean, wombats, CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED)
World’s oldest-known wombat originally from Tasmania set to turn 35 at Satsukiyama Zoo in Japan
The oldest-known wombat in the world is shuffling toward his mid-30s, exceeding the average wild wombat’s age by an estimated 20 years.
The marsupial — called Wain, and also known as Mr Wine — started life at Cradle Mountain in Tasmania but has spent most of his life in Japan.
Found as an orphan in November 1989, Wain spent a brief period in care in northern Tasmania before being sent overseas to mark a long-standing relationship between Tasmania’s City of Launceston and Ikeda in Japan.
Androo Kelly, owner of Trowunna Wildlife Sanctuary in Tasmania, helped establish the enclosure in Ikeda where Wain lives.
He said Wain definitely looked “like an old wombat” but was in excellent condition for his age.
