Animals found in Australia
Australia was cut off from the rest of the world which resulted in animals that are unique to Australia. They can be found nowhere else in the world. Some of the best known animals are the kangaroo, koala, dingo and platypus. Here are photographs from the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in Brisbane.
Read about them some of the animals that can be found in Australia below.
Red Kangaroo
There are different types of kangaroos in Australia. Red kangaroos are the biggest. Red kangaroos live in small groups. They like to eat green grass. The kangaroo is a marsupial. The baby kangaroo is called a joey. It is born blind and hairless. It lives in the mother's pouch until it is big enough to leave. Sometimes you see the joey's head sticking out of the mother's pouch.
There are different types of kangaroos in Australia. Red kangaroos are the biggest. Red kangaroos live in small groups. They like to eat green grass. The kangaroo is a marsupial. The baby kangaroo is called a joey. It is born blind and hairless. It lives in the mother's pouch until it is big enough to leave. Sometimes you see the joey's head sticking out of the mother's pouch.
These kangaroos hang around on a golf course on the great ocean road!
Here is a video of some kangaroos:
Wallaby
Wallabies are like kangaroos but they are smaller. There are lots of different types of wallaby. It is also a marsupial which means that it is a pouch. The joey lives in the mother's pouch until it is big enough to leave.
Wallabies are like kangaroos but they are smaller. There are lots of different types of wallaby. It is also a marsupial which means that it is a pouch. The joey lives in the mother's pouch until it is big enough to leave.
Wombat
Platypus
The platypus is a very strange looking animal. When Europeans saw it for the first time they thought that people were trying to play a trick on them. It is no wonder they thought someone was trying to play a trick on them. It has a body like a beaver's, webbed feet like an otter, a duck's bill and it lays eggs! It likes to eat freshwater shrimp and worms. |
Echidna
Koala
Source: Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary
Freshwater Crocodiles
Salt Water Crocodile
Click the video to see a crocodile in action:
Dingo
Tasmanian Devil
The Tasmanian devil is carnivorous. It is a marsupial which means it carries its young in a pouch. It could once be found all over Australia but can now only be found in Tasmania.
The Tasmanian devil is carnivorous. It is a marsupial which means it carries its young in a pouch. It could once be found all over Australia but can now only be found in Tasmania.
Bandicoot
Quokka
Sugar Glider
Green Ant
Here are some photographs of reptiles that can be found in Australia:
Source: Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary
Thorny Devil
Goanna
Bats
Flying Fox
There are lots of exciting fish in the waters around Australia. The Great Barrier Reef is the world's longest coral reef.
Dugong
Rockfish
Cuttlefish
Yabby
Bottle-nose Dolphin
Sea Dragon
Sharks & Rays
Sharks and rays are closely related. Their skeletons are made from cartilage. There is cartilage in our ears and nose. Cartilage is like bone but is much more flexible.
Great White Shark
These are another two dangerous sharks:
Humpback Whales
The humpback whale is a baleen whale. Like other whales it likes to eat krill. It fills its mouth with water which is pushed back out through the baleen plates. The krill get trapped behind and is swallowed by the whale. Click on the picture to see an amazing video.
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Sea Lions
There are a lot of unusual birds in Australia too. Here are some of the ones that can be found at the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary.
Source: Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary
Learn a little bit below about some of the birds that you can see in Australia:
Cassowary
The cassowary is a huge flightless bird. The cassowary likes to eat fruit, flowers, shoots and seeds. It also likes to eat snails, insects, frogs, birds, fish, rats, mice and carrion. Cassowaries are very shy but they will attack to defend themselves. These attacks can be so bad that they can seriously injure people. |
Brolga
Pelican
Rainbow Lorikeet
The rainbow lorikeet is a type of parrot. They like pollen and nectar. They like fruit such as apples. They will also eat papaya and mangoes that have already opened by fruit bats. If they can find fruit, nuts and seeds in bird seeders in people's gardens they will eat them too. Click on the video below to see a funny video of a cheeky rainbow lorikeet. |
Galah
Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo
The Gang-gang Cockatoo
Lyrebird
Lyrebirds are amazing. They can mimic the sounds that other birds make. They can also copy other sounds that they hear such as chainsaws, ring tones and camera shutters.
Lyrebirds are amazing. They can mimic the sounds that other birds make. They can also copy other sounds that they hear such as chainsaws, ring tones and camera shutters.
Emu
The emu is related to the ostrich. They are flightless but can run quickly when they want to. They like to eat plants but they also like to eat insects and other mini-beasts such as grasshoppers, crickets, beetles, cockroaches, ladybirds, ants, spiders and millipedes.
The emu is related to the ostrich. They are flightless but can run quickly when they want to. They like to eat plants but they also like to eat insects and other mini-beasts such as grasshoppers, crickets, beetles, cockroaches, ladybirds, ants, spiders and millipedes.
Magpie
Fairy Penguin
Kookaburra
Here is a video in which you can see a lot of birds found on Lady Eliot Island, Queensland:
Black Swan
Snakes
Box Jellyfish
It is almost impossible to see a box jellyfish. The tentacles can be as long as 3 metres. Nets are put along coastal areas to try to keep out the jellyfish but sometimes they get through. There are certain times in the year that you should not swim in the coastal waters of northern Australia because you could get stung. The sting of the box jellyfish is very painful. It could even kill you. Vinegar is left on the beach in case you get stung. |
The bite of these two spiders could also kill you if not treated.
Funnel Web
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Redback
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Termites
Camels are found wild in Australia now. They are not native animals but they were used by those travelling within the country and some escaped.