Wombat Love

So in February 2008, Queensland's top environmental officials walked into the Australian headquarters of Xstrata and made the pitch. For Xstrata Coal CEO Peter Freyberg, investing an initial $3 million in the wombat was a no-brainer. "There's obviously benefit in terms of the way people perceive Xstrata," says Freyberg.

Xstrata is not just writing a check. Freyberg says the company will play a hands-on role in the relocation project. "The wombat is massively endangered," he says. "Without our intervention, this animal would be at serious risk." In November, Freyberg made the trek to Epping, where he had his own close encounter with a northern hairy-nose late one night.

Branding endangered species rankles some greens, but Michael Bean, chief of the Environmental Defense Fund's wildlife program, sees it as a positive trend as the list of imperiled animals grows and other funding falls. "Potentially, it can do a lot of good," he says, "as long as there are no strings attached." Australia's Treasury Secretary, Ken Henry, spent a month with the hairy-noses as an Epping caretaker. "It's absolutely terrific what Xstrata has done," says Henry, an ardent conservationist. "There's opportunities for other corporates to get involved with other species." Memo to Tasmanian devil: Are you getting this?

Wombat Protection To see rare photos, go to time.com/wombat