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AUSTRALIAN ANIMALS There are many different species of wildlife in Australia. Marsupials are the most successful group in Australia. This group includes kangaroos, koalas, Tasmanian devils, wombats, and many others. The platypus and the Echidna are egg-laying mammals. There are also numerous different species of birds. Some of them are kookaburra and the flightless Emus. Kangaroos are the largest marsupial mammals. They are found in Australia and New Guinea. They are grazing animals eating grass, young shoots and leaves of heath plants and grass trees. Kangaroos need very little water to survive and are capable of going for months without drinking at all. They can hop at a speed up to 40 mph over a 1-2 mile distance and 20 mph for long distances such as 10 miles or more. There are about 60 different kinds of kangaroos but the 3 most popular ones are the Eastern Grey, the Red Kangaroo and the Western Grey. A male kangaroo is called a buck, "boomer" or an "old man". A female kangaroo is called a doe, or a flyer. Joey is the name of the baby kangaroo. These animals have good eyesight but only respond to moving objects. They have excellent hearing and can swivel their large ears in all directions to pick up sounds. The kangaroo is an Australian icon: it is featured on the Australian Coat of Arms (to represent the country progress as the Kangaroo is not able to go backwards), It is also featured on some currency and is used by many Australian organisations, including Qantas. Koalas are not bears but belong to the marsupials. They are related to wombats and have a pouch. “Koala” is an aboriginal word that means “does not drink”. Although this animals obtain most of their water from eucalyptus and gum tree leaves they do occasionally drink water at the edges of streams. Sleeping about 18 hours a day and rarely coming down from their tree. Koalas are very lazy creatures. For this reason, you can find Koalas everywhere in Australia where the winter is not so cold, so they don’t have to move. Wombats are Australian animals with a hairy nose and silky fur which can vary from a sandy colour to brown or from grey to black. Like koalas, they are marsupials - mammals having a pouch. They feed on grass, leaves and the roots of plants. During the day wombats live in burrows which they dig with their strong sharp claws, at night they usually come out to eat. Emus are the largest birds living in Australia and the second-largest bird in the world after their flightless relatives, the ostriches. Even if they cannot fly, emus are able to run very fast. If necessary, they can sprint at 50 km/h (30 mph) for some distance. The Emus’ feathers are dark brown. Emus are common over most of mainland Australia, although they avoid heavily populated areas, dense forest and arid areas. These animals are nomadic and may travel long distances to find food like fruit, green plants, seeds, grasshoppers and caterpillars. Emus are farmed for their meat, oil and leather. Kookaburras belong to a family of birds called kingfishers. There are two kinds of kookaburras: the laughing kookaburra and the blue-winged kookaburra. The laughing kookaburra is 40cm long and it is white and brown with some blue and grey on their wings. The blue-winged kookaburra has a large blue patch on the wings. Both have a very pointy long beak. Kookaburras live in nearly all of Australia except the dry interior. They live in family groups of parents and their chicks. The chicks of varying ages help feed the new nestlings. They claim their territory with their laughing calls. Kookaburras lay 2-6 eggs in nests which are built in hollow branches of trees. Their diet includes lizards, snakes, worms and insects. Sometimes they eat rats and small birds and also mice, fish, frogs and other small animals. Platypuses are a semi-aquatic mammals endemic to eastern Australia, including Tasmania. These egg-laying, duck-billed animals are one of the few venomous mammals; the male Platypus has a spur on the hind foot which delivers a poison capable of causing severe pain to humans. Furthermore it has become a recognizable and iconic symbol of Australia; it sometimes appears at national events and it is featured on the reverse of the Australian 20 cent coin. Until the early 20th century it was hunted for its fur, but it is now protected throughout its range. Australia is described spider fauna consists of about 2000 species, maybe as little as half of the total fauna. Most of these species come from the eastern and southern regions of Australia. Even in the better known areas, surveys of ground spider faunas can still identify to species less than 50% of the spiders sampled. Obviously, there is much more collecting, observational and descriptive work to be done before Australia's spider fauna is adequately documented. In addition to describing and classifying our spider fauna, there is a great need to gather more information about how Australian spiders live - about their behaviour, ecology and life histories. With so much still to find out, the study of spiders is a rewarding field for both professional and amateur researchers. Redbacks are Australia's best-known spider. They appear in songs and even have a beer named after them. Redbacks live all over Australia but are less common in colder regions like Tasmania. They thrive in populated areas. Hundreds of bites are reported each year but less than 30 percent require anti-venom treatment. Before anti-venom was available, Redback bites caused about a dozen known deaths. Only females usually bite people - the males are generally too small. Snakes are reptiles. There are many different kinds of snakes in all parts of Australia. Some of them are harmless like the carpet snake and some are poisonous like the king brown. Snakes live in holes, trees and even in the water. Some even live in people's roofs. They can eat birds including chooks, rats, mice, eggs, fish, frogs, lizards and even other snakes. Tasmanian Devils are widespread and fairly common throughout Tasmania. Found in all habitats/biotopes on the island, including the outskirts of urban areas, they particularly like dry green forests and coastal woodlands. The Tasmanian Devil is a nocturnal and crepuscular hunter (i. e. active in the dawn), spending the days in dense bush or in a hole. Young devils can climb trees, but this becomes more difficult as they grow larger. The predominantly solitary animals can swim, as well. The size of a small dog, but stocky and muscular, the Tasmanian Devil is now the largest marsupial meat eaters in the world. Echidnas or “Spiny anteaters” are Australian egg laying mammals with sharp cream coloured spines growing out of reddish brown to black fur. They have sharp claws which they use to dig in the ground and bury themselves to escape from danger, long tongues which they flick out to catch ants, termites and other insects but no teeth at all. Their tail is short, spineless and hairless and the males have a poison spur on each hind leg which can inflict a nasty wound. Echidnas are nocturnal as they sleep during the day and hunt for food at night. Their eyesight is very poor whereas their hearing is very good. They live in other animals' burrows or hollow logs or just dig into the ground for warmth. They live in rainforests and in deserts. Echidnas are quite common animals and are not endangered but are protected by the law. “Dingos” are wild dogs which live only in Australia. Dingos have yellowy brown fur, pointy ears and a bushy tail that has a white tip. These animals are blind and have no hair. They live in lairs in caves or in thick bushes, eat birds and small animals including calves.
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