Keepers at Rockhampton Zoo have put southern hairy-nosed wombats on a strict gym routine this winter in a bid to keep their weight under control.

The wombats are only active for about four hours a day, so when they rise at about 10:30am each morning, their keepers secure their leash and take them out for a scenic stroll.

Keeper Yvette Denning said exercise has proven beneficial for captive animals.

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“We’ve got a wombat here called Donna who has a problem with her hips, so it’s important to keep her weight down,” she said.

“And she doesn’t like to move too much, so we have to encourage her.”

Wombats have the lowest basal metabolic rate of any mammal, so their diet is very low in energy.

Ms Denning said this is why their focus is on exercise as opposed to diet.

“One study looked at wombats in the wild and they only moved 170 metres in a 24-hour period,” she said.

One study looking at wombats in the wild found they only moved 170 metres in a 24-hour period. Photo: Rockhampton Zoo

“One really energetic wombat in that study moved 800 metres in a night, [but] they don’t move a lot in the wild so we don’t want to exhaust them in captivity here either.”

The wombat program at the zoo provides researchers with valuable information about captive husbandry techniques, as they constantly work to improve the enclosure to resemble their natural environment.

American biology student Kaillee Schulz is working at the zoo as part of a six-week internship.

She said getting up-close and personal with Australian native animals has been a highlight.

“I’ve been surprised by how much interaction I’ve been allowed to have here with the wombats,” she said.

“I mean I can come in here and pat them [and] walk them – same with the dingoes.”

Ms Schulz said while the wombats are popped on a lead for their walks, her role is simply to follow them.

“You just have to let them do what they want to do,” she said.

“Once they get going they’re super excited to wander around and see all the new terrain.”

-ABC