In the middle of the southern Queensland bush, a man in a high-vis orange shirt looks starkly out of place as he slowly pushes a strange four-wheeled machine across the uneven, scrubby landscape.

The northern hairy-nosed wombat is one of the world's most endangered animals.

The lawnmower-looking device is covered in screens and sensors, and each push over the grassy scrub sends pulsating radio waves underground.

Today, their population has grown to more than 300.

"If there's a drought or a catastrophic fire at Epping, that's where the majority of the animals are," he says.

More sites planned Queensland's Department of Environment and Science (DES) has secured a third site at Powrunna State Forest, also near St George, with plans to transfer a wombat population within the next couple of years.