Australia Fauna

Birds. Australia is home to over 800 avian species, from the large emu to the tiny fairy penguin. Noisy flocks of galahs, budgies, and colorful rainbow lorikeets fill Aussie skies, and popular rhymes have immortalized the unmistakable, humanoid laugh of the kookaburra. All of these native Australian animals can be seen, and many can be handled, at open-air zoos such as the Healesville Sanctuary in Victoria and the Taronga Western Plains Zoo in New South Wales.

Mammals.  Marsupials, or mammals that nurse their young in pouches, historically had few competitors on the Australian continent and consequently flourished in their various ecological niches. Perhaps the best-known marsupial, the kangaroo, can grow up to 3m long, nose to tail, and is capable of propelling itself nearly 30 ft. in a single bound. The kangaroo’s smaller cousin, the wallaby, is also common in the Outback. Australia’s other iconic marsupial, the koala, sleeps 18hr. per day and feasts on eucalyptus leaves. Other native marsupials include wombats (a rare, rotund, and terribly cuddly-looking burrowing creature), possums, bandicoots, and quolls. Two families of monotremes, or egg-laying mammals, also call Australia home. Echidnas are small porcupine-like anteaters with protruding snouts. The platypus sports an odd combination of zoological features: the bill of a duck, the fur of an otter, the tail of a beaver, and webbed claws unique to its own species. British naturalists treated colonists’ original reports of platypuses with scrutiny and believed stuffed specimens were frauds.

Marine Mammals.  Fur seals, elephant seals, and sea lions populate Australia’s southern shores during summer breeding seasons. Kangaroo Island, South Australia , is a good place to see sea lions in their natural habitat. Dolphins are also common sights on Aussie coasts, especially in Bunbury and Monkey Mia in Western Australia; and Sorrento, Victoria . Humpback whales frequent the eastern waters of Hervey Bay, Queensland and swim near the Great Barrier Reef between July and November.

Reptiles. In addition to both saltwater and freshwater crocodiles, Australia’s reptiles include goannas (large lizards that can grow to be longer than 2m—one made an appearance in the kids’ movie The Rescuers Down Under ), and a wide array of snakes, many of them poisonous (see Dangerous Species).

Coral.  Remarkable coral reefs make Australian waters a haven for snorkelers and ocean animals alike. Corals are essentially large colonies of sea polyps, and the skeletons they leave behind are gradually compacted and consolidated to form giant reefs. The Great Barrier Reef, off the coast of Queensland, is the world’s largest coral reef. It boasts over 700 species of coral and, covering nearly 350,000 sq. km, is so large that it can be seen from space. This ecological giant shelters an incredibly diverse blend of species, including about 2000 different kinds of fish, six of the world’s seven species of sea turtle, and the planet’s largest populations of manatee-like dugongs.

Fish. Australia’s waters are swimming with rare fish species. These include the enormous potato cod and many species of scorpionfish, an extremely spiny, deadly family of fish. Many oceanside shops sell convenient fish identification cards, but there a few fish with which even casual beach bums might care to be familiar. The butterflyfish and batfish are both round, but the latter is larger and has a black stripe across the eye. While the angelfish and surgeonfish have similar oblong shapes, the latter has a pair of razor-sharp spines, one on either side of its tail. Then there’s the parrotfish, which eats bits of coral by cracking them in its beak-like mouth and envelops itself in a protective mucus sac at night.

Extinct Fauna. Some of Australia’s most interesting life forms haven’t actually lived for a number of millennia. A wide range of dinosaurs—including ankylosaurs, allosaurs, and even giant titanosaurs —have been found in Australia. Queensland in particular has been a rich source of dinosaur fossils; Dinosaur Country is a must for archaeology buffs. Giant marsupials also roamed the prehistoric Australian landscape. These megafauna, which included towering kangaroo ancestors called diprotodons , disappeared soon after the arrival of humans. One infamous marsupial carnivore has survived, however. Fierce Tasmanian Devils are nocturnal scavengers who hunt small prey and kill livestock with their extremely powerful jaws.

Introduced And Invasive Species. Humans have been responsible for the introduction of animals to Australia since prehistoric times, and many of these introduced species are now considered pests. The dingo (see Dangerous Species) crossed the Timor Sea via Aboriginal trade routes several thousand years ago and now survives as a scavenger in the wild. Accidental introductions such as European rats and cane toads present serious threats to native fauna. The overpopulation of rabbits, supposedly introduced to Australia as targets for marksmen, has become one of Australia’s most serious wildlife problems. Foxes have also upset delicate Australian ecosystems by hunting native species, particularly in Tasmania.

Domesticated cattle and sheep have been of tremendous economic importance in Australia since European settlement, and stations (ranches) can be found throughout the country. Vast tracts of land have been converted to pasture to support the meat and wool industries, resulting in a dramatic shift in the ecological balance. The farming of non-native honeybees has also become a growing part of the economy.