The endangered northern hairy-nosed wombat has given up some hair in the name of research.

A University of Adelaide PhD student has been collecting small hair samples to monitor and conserve the dwindling native’s population.

Researchers have taken the high-tech approach of dangling double-sided sticky tape over the entrance to burrows, to complete a population census of the wombat with the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service and the University's Australian Centre for Ancient DNA (ACAD).

University of Adelaide PhD student Lauren White has spent the last two weeks in Queensland handling thousands of individual hairs.

“As the wombats enter or exit their burrows overnight they get a small wax and hair is stuck to the tape,” says Lauren.

“We collected 1,260 hairs and every single one was carefully placed in its own very small tube and transported back to ACAD for DNA analysis.

The northern hairy-nosed wombat's numbers dropped to as low as just 40 individuals in recent decades, but conservation efforts meant that number had risen to 163 by 2010.

Getting an accurate count is difficult, given that the wombat lives only the in Epping Forest National Park, is mostly nocturnal and lives underground.

Previous research by Ms White found nine new genetic markers for the northern hairy-nosed wombat. Researchers then developed a faster and simpler DNA test to be able to identify individuals.

“By collecting hairs over several nights and identifying how many different wombats they belong to and how often they've been 'captured', we can then estimate the proportion of the population that's likely to have been sampled. This allows a good estimate of the total population size,” she said.

“Hopefully, this next population estimate will continue to show that the northern hairy-nosed wombat population is growing, giving the green light for more reintroductions and recovery action.

“Using DNA analyses as part of the conservation effort, we hope to help make sure the wombats are here to stay.”