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When the first settlers from Europe came to Australia, they found there an animal that seemed familiar to them: it is about the same size as a badger, it behaves like a badger, it digs dens in the earth, it is agile and swift. The hunters discovered that the animal’s meat tasted like badger’s meat – hardly surprising that they named it the Australian badger. And yet the wombat has nothing to do with the European badger – not even in its past, for even in the Saurian age their ancestors were completely different. What kind of animals are they? They are cute and friendly, but unfortunately the “normal” Australian rarely sees them. Only in the sparsely populated regions of Australia, such as the island of Tasmania, can one experience them at close quarters. Felix Heidinger investigates the life, the history and the particular features of an animal which, incidentally, reminds him more of a bear than of a badger.