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[edit] Numbat Population

Prior to my most recent edit, the section "Similar Animals" included the following text:

• The Numbat (Myrmecobius fasciatus), a marsupial, formerly called the Banded Anteater. This species is very endangered. There only about 3 left in the world

While I'm not an expert on the actual Numbat population, I could find no other source that supported such a small population, and in fact Wikipedia's own Numbat article does not make this claim. Consequently, I have removed the reference to "only about 3". If you replace this in the article, please add a citation to go with it. 168.12.253.82 14:24, 5 June 2006 (UTC)

No animal can have only three in the world, even the most endangered have at least 100 in the wild!163.21.216.253 06:35, 12 June 2006 (UTC)

That's not true. There was for instance onely one Spix's Macaw left in the wild. Being endangered means you have a high risk to get extinct, and animals are dying out as we speak. And to remind you: for a species to get extinct you have to have less than 100 individuals for at least a small period of time. It's quite unusual for a population to drop from 100 to 0 in a second.

By the way, the numbat is quite rare, but not that rare. Probably the writer of the text meant that there are only about 3 populations left in the world. The Claw 10:16, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

OK, I frogot about the Spix's macaw, but it's still true that numbats aren't THAT rare! Dora Nichov 09:32, 26 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] By the Number

That "30000 ants a day"? I've seen as high as 75000. Can somebody confirm? Or make it a range? Also, I've seen (somewhere...) they actually feed more in trees than on the ground... Trekphiler 20:38 & 20:45, 16 October 2006 (UTC)

Well, giant anteaters are 100% terrestrial, but tamanduas and silky anteaters definitely spend more time in trees. In fact, the silky anteater almost never reaches the ground. Dora Nichov 09:51, 5 November 2006 (UTC)