Brush-tailed Bettong

The brush-tailed bettong's diet mainly consists of fungi, including mushrooms. They also eat bulbs, seeds, insects, some leaves, and a sticky substance called resin, which comes from pine trees. They rarely drink water, extracting the moisture they need from the food they eat.

At the Zoo, bettongs are offered hay, a variety of produce, and mushrooms. 

Brush-tailed bettongs once were found in most of the Australian mainland south of the tropics. Today, they are only found in their original populations within the Perup Nature Reserve, Tutanning Nature Reserve, and Dryandra Woodland in southwestern Australia. In an effort to increase their numbers, brush-tailed bettongs have also been introduced to various locations in South Australia and New South Wales. 

In the past, brush-tailed bettongs have preferred to live in desert grasslands and forests. However, they can now only be found in forests, woodlands, and eucalyptus scrublands. 

The bettong population has decreased because of non-native animals like red foxes and feral cats, which prey on the ground-dwelling animals and have significantly reduced their numbers. Additionally, drought and habitat destruction have further impacted the already low population, a situation made worse by an increase in wildfires. 

Brush-tailed bettongs have relatively large eyes and round ears. Their fur ranges in color from a light gray to a brownish color on their backs and sides, with a lighter color on their underside. A distinctive feature is the black tuft of fur extending from the tail, which is why they are called "brush-tailed."  Their tails are also prehensile, meaning they can use them to grab and collect materials for nesting. Their tails also aid in balance when hopping or digging.

Brush-tailed bettongs are completely bipedal,  meaning they move using two legs. Their back feet are longer than their front feet and even longer than their heads! Their powerful hind legs help them hop, similar to a kangaroo. They use their strong front feet and claws to dig into the ground and search for food. 

Brush-tailed bettongs are a type of marsupial. A pregnant female has a gestation period of about 21 days, after which she gives birth to one or two young, called joeys. The joeys are not fully developed at birth and must crawl into their mother’s pouch. They stay in the pouch for around three and a half months, where they nurse and grow.

After they are big enough to leave the pouch, the baby bettongs will follow their mother and continue to suckle until the next joey is able to leave the mother’s pouch. Female bettongs can have up to three babies each year. Male bettongs reach maturity at about 13 months, while females mature a bit earlier, around 10 months. 

Bettongs have strong senses of smell and hearing. They communicate with each other by using pheromones, which are chemicals found in their urine, feces, and scent glands.

Bettongs are nocturnal, meaning they are most active at night, when they forage for food. During the daytime, they rest in domed nests made of grass or shredding bark built over small, dug-out ditches in the ground. Bettongs can also nest under bushes or other types of cover.

The nests are large, up to 42 square feet, and several nests are used at the same time. Male and female bettongs may have overlapping nesting and foraging areas. Bettongs are usually solitary animals, except during breeding and while raising young.