The Bare-nosed Wombat is Least Concern as the species is common, has a wide distribution, tolerates a broad range of habitats, and is unlikely to be undergoing a decline in population.

The Bare-nosed Wombat is endemic to south-eastern Australia, where it has a discontinuous and fragmented range in mainland Australia from south-eastern Queensland to south-eastern South Australia, on the Tasmanian mainland and on Flinders, Bruny, Dog, King, Rigby, Snake, Sunday and Rotamah Islands (Abbott and Burbidge 1995, McIlroy 2023). Populations on Cape Barren and Clarke Islands have been extirpated (Hope 1973, Abbott and Burbidge 1995). It ranges in elevation from sea level to 2200 m (Matthews et al. 2012). 
 
A population was also introduced in the 1960s to Maria Island (Tasmania).

The Bare-nosed Wombat is common. Densities of wombats range from 0.12 to 1.9 individuals per hectare (McIlroy 1977; Mallett and Cooke 1986; Taylor 1993; Buchan and Goldney 1998; Skerratt et al. 2004, Evans 2008, Burgess et al. 2023), with lower densities possibly reflecting poorer habitat and/or food quality. Recent studies have estimated the total population at 840,000 in Tasmania, 72,000 on Flinders Island and 432,000 in Victoria (Heard and Ramsay 2023, Knoblauch et al. 2023), with comparable numbers likely in New South Wales.

Population trends are not well established across the range of Bare-nosed Wombats. However, there are several monitoring programs of varying intensity, spatial scales and duration. The most substantial is that in Tasmania, which has monitored the abundance of wombats (and other species) at 132 transects across much of mainland Tasmania and eight transects on Flinders Island every year for 34 years. Over this period, the wombat population increased by 2.6 times on Tasmania and 3.5 times on Flinders Island (Carver et al. 2021, Driessen et al. 2021). However, population trends were variable across regions and recent decline has occurred at one monitored Tasmanian region, due to sarcoptic mange (Martin et al. 2018).

Bare-nosed Wombats are found in temperate forested areas, sclerophyll forest, coastal scrub, and heathland (McIlroy 2023). They live in a system of burrows, and use between one and six in a night and up to 20 burrows over several weeks (McIlroy 2023). Breeding can take place at any time of the year. Usually a single young is born (McIlroy 2023). The young are dependent on the female for at least 17 months. Bare-nosed Wombats become sexually mature at about two years, and can live up to 15 years in the wild (McIlroy 2023). Wombats have cube shaped scats and will deposit their scats on rocks, logs and in prominent locations to mark their territory. Wombats are grazers consuming mostly grasses as well as sedges and rushes (Mallett and Cooke 1986, Evans et al. 2006, Green et al. 2015, Old et al. 2024). Their diet is nutrient-poor and their metabolism is among the lowest extreme for mammals >10 kg (Carver et al. 2024).

Wombat burrows are used for shelter by many other animal species, and particularly may provide critical refuges for many species during and after wildfire (Linley et al. 2024).

The main threats to Bare-nosed Wombats are starvation (associated with prolonged drought), sarcoptic mange, predation by dogs, collisions with vehicles and persecution by humans (McIlroy 2023, Thorley and Old 2020). Historically population declines occurred through conversion of native vegetation to agricultural land, and further reductions may continue to be a threat in parts of the wombat’s range. Conversely, wombats may also benefit from patchy clearing that results in a mosaic of forest and pasture (Carver et al. 2021, Driessen et al. 2021).

Sarcoptic mange caused by the mite Sarcoptes scabiei that burrows into the skin and causes a hypersensitivity reaction, is an increasing concern. Infected wombats lose fur, the skin becomes crusted and cracked causing open wounds. If left untreated afflicted wombats may die. Sarcoptic mange is present across the entire geographic distribution of the Bare-nosed Wombat, and has been documented to affect up to 42% of a population (Martin et al. 1998, Skerratt 1998; Skerratt et al. 2004, Hartley and English 2005, Stannard et al. 2021, Mayadunnage et al. 2024). Sarcoptic mange led to a 94% decline in the wombat population in Narawntapu National Park, Tasmania over a 7-year period, 2010-2016 (Martin et al. 2018). A camera-trap survey of the distribution of wombats and of symptoms of mange across Tasmania and the larger Bass Strait islands showed that while mange is widespread the manifestation of mange is heterogeneous. As well as being generally correlated with habitat suitability for wombats, manifestation of mange was more likely at sites with low annual precipitation, near sources of freshwater, and with low topographic roughness. Because the habitat preferences of wombats are broader, a large proportion of the species range is in areas with low environmental suitability for mange (Ringwaldt et al. 2023). This suggests that while locally significant mange is unlikely to be causing large-scale decline.

Collision with motor vehicles is an ongoing threat (Driessen et al. 2021), especially for individuals that live close to urban areas. Records collected by citizen scientists from 2015 to 2019 reported 2,391 wombat deaths across New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria and Tasmania due to collisions with motor vehicles (Mayadunnage et al. 2023). Collisions with motor vehicles also cause young to become orphaned and require care, which is costly and labour intensive.

The Bare-nosed Wombat may also be threatened by the increasing extent and severity of wildfires. Although their deep burrows probably act as shelter and thereby reduce mortality in fires, the post-fire landscape may provide few food resources. About 30% of the distributional range of Bare-nosed Wombats was burnt in the Black Summer (2019-20) wildfires, much at high intensity (Legge et al. 2021); however monitoring at 12 months post-fire showed little impact - and indeed higher abundance in burnt compared with matched unburnt sites (Spencer et al. 2022).

Wombats are present in many protected areas and are protected in all states where they occur. Wombats can cause damage to stock fences, and pasture, and dig burrows under houses or in dam walls, leading to human-wildlife conflict. Ideally, wombats should be managed to prevent potential conflicts, either using fencing, wombat gates, marking burrows, or using excluding mesh. As a last resort lethal control can be used but must be licensed by the state authority.

Although the threat remains formidable and extensive, there is some local-scale success with management of sarcoptic mange, such as through the use of burrow-flaps that apply antiparasitical medications when the wombat leaves its burrow (Bains et al. 2022).