Fauna & Flora

2. Fauna

A range of animals established succesfully its population in Australia as it was impossible to go in other parts of the world. Almost all Australians mammals are either marsupials (like kangaroos) or monotremes (animals that lay eggs). There are two types of monotremes in the World : the platipuses and the echidnas.

• The Platipuses: living mostly on the Eastern coast of Australia, from Tasmania to North Queensland, they are diving animals (capable to stay about 15 minutes underwater). They like digging their burrows into bank rivers.

• The Echidnas: already established all over Australia, they are sometimes called "spiny anteaters" as their diet consists mainly of termites. They use their spines as a mechanism of defence by rolling up themselves in some sort of spiny balls, or by digging underground so they'll expose only their spines.

• The Kangaroos: considered as Australia's largest marsupials. They can get to a speed of 60 km/hour, and they can jump more than 8 metres long and 3 meters high. They live only in groups of about 100 animals, but are more than 50,000 in Australia (or more than twice the number of inhabitants). Their diet consists mainly of grass, leaves and other plants. Their babies are called "Joeys".

• The Emus: more than 6 feet tall and weighting about 60 kg, they are the second largest birds of the entire World. You can find them all over Australia (except from rainforests), as they eat mostly grass, leaves, fruits and insects. They can reach a speed of 60 km/hour. Their babies are called "Chicks".

• The Wombats: the World's largest burrowing herbivorous mammals. They live only on the East coast, from Tasmania to Southern Queensland. They are nocturnal animals, living 80% of their time underground, in their long and complex burrows waiting for the temperature to get cooler. Their babies are also calles "Joeys"

• The Tasmanian Devils : the World's largest carnivorous marsupials. As the name indicates it, they are from Tasmania. As the wombats, they are nocturnal animals that come out only for food. They are great scavengers, and while feeding, they'll eat everything(bones and fur). They are solitary animals.

• The Koalas : these tree-dwelling marsupials can be found in the mainland of Eastern Australia. Their paws consist on rough pads and long claws to help them climb up the trees, as their diet is based mainly on Eucalyptus leaves. They are quite lazy animals because they sleep and rest about 20 hours per day. Their main source of water is the dew and rain they collect from the leaves they eat. Their babies are called "Cubs".