Love bites on hairy bums: wombats' sex lives revealed

Researchers hope that insights into reproductive behaviour will help save endangered species

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A whiskery love bite on a hairy bum. It may sound like a perturbing form of foreplay but scientists believe it could help save critically endangered wombat populations in Australia's north.

Scientists have spent two wombat breeding seasons seeking to better understand the sex lives of vulnerable southern hairy-nosed wombats, using 24-hour infrared cameras and urine samples.