Boodie

Boodie

Burrowing bettong, Lesueur's rat-kangaroo

Kingdom
Phylum
Subphylum
Class
Infraclass
Family
Genus
SPECIES
Bettongia lesueur
Population size
14,500
Life Span
3 years
Weight
2
3
kglbs
kg lbs 
Length
40
16
cminch
cm inch 

The boodie (Bettongia lesueur) is a small, furry, rat-like mammal native to Australia. It is a member of the rat-kangaroo family (Potoroidae). The boodie lives in burrows and, like most marsupials, carries its young in a pouch.

No

Nocturnal

Fo

Folivore

Fr

Frugivore

Gr

Granivore

He

Herbivore

Fo

Fossorial

Te

Terrestrial

Vi

Viviparous

Al

Altricial

Bu

Burrowing

Po

Polygyny

So

Social

No

Not a migrant

B

starts with

Appearance

The boodie is a small, rat-like marsupial with short, rounded ears and a lightly-haired, thick tail. It has a pointed rostrum and beady black eyes, hind limbs longer than the forelimbs, and large hind feet. The boodie is yellow-gray above and light gray below. Its short, dense fur feels soft and woolly. The animal bears a faint hip stripe and a distinctive white tail tip. This tail is weakly prehensile and is usually used to carry nest material.

Distribution

Geography

Boodies were once common throughout Australia but are now restricted to a few coastal islands. Within these islands, they prefer to live in open Triodia (spinifex) and dune habitats. They require areas with shrubs, grasses, and herbs where they can burrow and avoid places with rocky substrate.

Boodie habitat map

Climate zones

Boodie habitat map
Boodie
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Habits and Lifestyle

Boodies are highly social animals. They live in burrows which they dig under the ground. Burrows vary from simple tunnels to complex networks with multiple entrances and deep, interconnecting tunnels. These elaborate burrows, or warrens, have been seen having from four to 94 entrances. Burrows are communal, housing an average of 20-40 boodies. During the day in the burrows, they form groups of one male and one or many females; males never share burrows with other males. When above the ground boodies usually forage alone and don't associate with each other. Boodies forage during the nighttime hours. Nighttime movement is usually fairly limited, averaging less than 200 m (0.12 miles) but they may sometimes travel 2.2 km (1.4 miles) searching for food. Boodies may even climb into low shrubs to find food. They are very vocal and communicate with each other through grunts, hisses, and squeals.

Seasonal behavior

Diet and Nutrition

Boodies are omnivores and eat a variety of foods. Their diet includes seeds, fruits, flowers, tubers, roots, succulent leaves, grasses, fungi, termites, and marine refuse. They will also raid vegetable gardens.

Mating Habits

MATING BEHAVIOR
REPRODUCTION SEASON
year-round
PREGNANCY DURATION
21 days
BABY CARRYING
1 joey
FEMALE NAME
jill, roo
MALE NAME
jack, boomer
BABY NAME
joey

Boodies are thought to be polygynous meaning that males mate with more than one female during the breeding season. Males do not seem to have dominance hierarchies; rather, they defend females against other males. Boodies can breed throughout the year. Gestation lasts 21 days, with only one joey per litter. Like other marsupial newborns, the young is born altricial and takes about 4 months until weaning. After the joey leaves the pouch, it takes 6 to 7 months to become reproductively mature. In captivity, females can bear 3 young per year.

Population

Population threats

Many possible causes are thought to have influenced the boodie's decline on mainland Australia, which began once Australia was colonized. Nineteenth-century colonists killed boodies, considering them a destructive garden pest. As pastoral leases spread over the grasslands, livestock grazing reduced vegetation cover, shrinking their habitat. Also, introduced species such as foxes, cats, and rabbits took a severe toll on the boodie, especially on islands. Rabbits competed with them for food and shelter, and the foxes and cats became their major predators. Finally, the Indigenous Australians maintained certain fire regimes, and when these ceased, the habitat probably changed. Current populations fluctuate, building up during the years with average or good rainfall and declining during drought years.

Population number

According to the IUCN Red List, the total population size of the boodie is around 14,500 mature individuals. Currently, this species is classified as Near Threatened (NT) on the IUCN Red List, but its numbers today are increasing.

Ecological niche

Before their extinction on the mainland, boodies played a very important role in the Australian grassland ecosystem. As they foraged, they mixed organic matter into the soil, spreading fungi and seeds. This mixing also increased water absorption into the soil and reduced the combustible material under trees, decreasing the likelihood of fire. These actions helped maintain the balance of trees, shrubs, and grasses. The loss of small, ground-foraging animals after European settlement contributed to widespread soil deterioration. Also, boodies may have helped to thin woody weeds on rangeland by browsing shrubs growing after fires.

Fun Facts for Kids

  • The word "boodie" comes from its name boodi or burdi in Noongar, an Aboriginal language spoken in southwestern Australia. The animal was first collected on an 1817 French expedition of the west coast and was named Bettongia lesueur after Charles Lesueur, an artist and naturalist who accompanied a previous French expedition.
  • Boodies are the only macropodiform that live in burrows.
  • Boodies move mainly using their hind legs. The forelimbs are used for support when the boodie is stationary. Boodies have a slow gait and a fast gait. During the fast gait (or bipedal hop) boodies use only their hind limbs, with the forelimbs held close to the body and tail acting as a counterbalance. The slow gait (or quadrupedal crawl) is used during foraging and other unstressed times.

References

1. Boodie Wikipedia article - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boodie
2. Boodie on The IUCN Red List site - https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/2784/21961179

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