Australia is the planet's extinction hotspot, but one animal offers a glimmer of hope - BBC News

The country is home to some of the world's most unique species - but it is losing them at an alarming rate.

Australia is the planet's extinction hotspot, but one animal offers a glimmer of hope

ByTiffanie TurnbullReporting fromDryandra, Western Australia"Eyes peeled," comes the order from the front passenger seat.

Obediently, we scan the ends and tops of logs, looking between low scrub and patches of vivid wildflowers for a flash of stripes or a dart of movement.

Eluding us is the numbat, a rare Australian marsupial which could be the love-child of a chipmunk and an anteater.

Numbats were once populous across the bottom half of the continent, but Dryandra Woodland – in the south-western corner of Australia – is one of the few places they remain.