With the species threatened by wild dogs, the Queensland Government built a 20-kilometre (12 mi)-long predator-proof fence around all wombat habitat at Epping Forest National Park in 2002.

[4][3] The widely accepted common name is northern hairy-nosed wombat, based on the historical range of the species, as well as the fur, or "whiskers", on its nose.

Both Lasiorhinus species differ morphologically from the common wombat by their silkier fur, broader hairy noses, and longer ears.

The northern hairy-nosed wombat's nose is very important in its survival because it has very poor eyesight, so it must detect its food in the dark through smell.

Examination of the wombat's digestive tract shows that the elastic properties of the ends of their large intestines are capable of turning liquid excrement into cubical scat.

[8] Northern hairy-nosed wombats require deep sandy soils in which to dig their burrows, and a year-round supply of grass, which is their primary food.

[3] At Epping Forest National Park, northern hairy-nosed wombats construct their burrows in deep, sandy soils on levée banks which were deposited by a creek that no longer flows through the area.

[3] By the 1980s the range of the northern hairy-nosed wombat had become restricted to a single site of about 300 hectares (740 acres)[citation needed] in the Epping National Forest in east-central Queensland, 120 kilometres (75 mi) north-west of Clermont.

Threats to the northern hairy-nosed wombat include small population size, predation, competition for food, disease, floods, droughts, wildfires, and habitat loss.

[19] Wild dogs are the wombat's primary predator, but the spread of invasive herbivores such as the European rabbit and the actions of landowners have also contributed to their decline.

[20] There have been two reports of male northern hairy-nosed wombats contracting a fungal infection caused by Emmonsia parva, a soil saprophytic fungus.

[21] Since around 1993, the Queensland Government's Department of Environment and Science (DES) and predecessors have led a recovery program, supported by Glencore mining company and The Wombat Foundation, for the species.

[3] A second, insurance colony of this species of wombat was established at Richard Underwood Nature Refuge (RUNR) at Yarran Downs, near St George in southern Queensland in 2008.

In addition, DNA fingerprint identification of wombat hairs allows research to be conducted without an invasive trapping or radio-tracking program.