Australia has both Freshwater Crocodiles and Saltwater (Estuarine) Crocodiles (because one type isn’t enough)! Wild dolphins are a fairly common sight in Australia. And if this Aussie animal isn’t odd enough, it’s also a bird that can’t fly. Giant Panda Snail – The World’s Slowest Tennis Ball. They lay eggs, have no teeth or stomach, and are one of the few venomous mammals in the world. Australian homes tend to have mesh screens over the windows and doors to prevent insects coming inside. To its predators it makes it look bigger, to us it looks like it has an umbrella for a neck. Although they resemble large rodents, they are actually small Australian marsupials. READ MORE: Endangered Asian Animals: 10 Wildlife Conservation Programs, Habitat: Open grasslands, plains, and dense forests, widespread across Australia, Diet: Mostly grass, leaves, fruits, and other plants. Our dear dingo, that we like so much that we have stolen even the name. These bizarre marsupials stay hidden during the day due to their small size, which makes them susceptible to being preyed upon by larger animals. Habitat: Rainforests and swamps of far north Queensland. READ MORE: Animal Selfies: The problem with putting Ego over Responsibility, Scientific Name: Ornithorhynchus anatinus, Habitat: Inland wetlands of eastern Australia, Diet: Worms, insect larvae, freshwater fish, small vertebrates. Today only some species survived. More Cool Facts: The Numbat eats termites exclusively, using its 4-inch tongue. They like to congregate in trees and can be quite noisy. Many of our native animals are only found here. Wallabies look very similar to kangaroos, but are much smaller (and cuter, in my opinion!). It was given to this sticky creature because it has qualities of both mammals and reptiles, laying eggs (like reptiles) but also feeding its babies milk (like mammals). Magpies swoop (some cyclists have straws sticking out of their helmets to prevent being attacked by them), kookaburras laugh and I can’t explain how loud the squawking is from a cockatoo! Our wily wordsmith, Tom, is a key weaver of yarns and the chief storyteller at Octopus HQ. While it was once roaming mainland Australia, it is now confined to Tasmania. 14. You can read about it in my blog post below. Then post it in the comments below…. If that’s not scary enough, it has some ferocious claws to defend itself with. Scientific Name: Trichoglossus moluccanus, Habitat: Lowland forests and woodland areas in and around Sydney and Melbourne, Diet: Pollen and nectar from local flowers, insects, fruits. It is only found in the rainforests of Northeastern Australia (only 1200 specimens in the wild). window.tgpQueue.add('tgpli-5f8b07a1258f1')The Thorny Devil has two heads. Dingoes and foxes have diminished the quokka population on mainland Australia, but you can still find them in south-west Western Australia. At this point you might be thinking that they’re minuscule, but they’re actually over 10cm long. Platypus – So Weird Scientists Thought They Were Fake. Many of these organisation stepped in to care for and rehabilitate koalas injured in the 2019-20 bush fires, along with volunteers. We have many more weird and wonderful creatures than just kangaroos, koalas and emus. Wombats are large, chunky marsupials that dig out tunnel-and-chamber burrows with their strong claws. Marsupials are a group of mammals that give birth prematurely. Check out my blog post below to learn more about how Australian homes differ to UK ones. Since the 1990s the breed is affected by a form of cancerous facial tumor which is 100% fatal. Nearly 70% of the population was decimated since the onset of the disease. They can even wish you a Happy Birthday from Australia. I spotted the wombat below at a campground in Wilsons Promontory National Park, near Melbourne. I started Dreaming of Down Under to help you travel or move to Australia, and to share the amazing places I’ve discovered living in  Sydney. We were also featured in the 2017 National Geographic book, Ultimate Journeys for Two, for which we contributed a chapter on our adventures in Rwanda. Here are some of the Australian animals I’ve encountered. What’s more, it dates back to the Gondwana age when Australia was still attached to Antarctica and India. There are over 10,000 species of caterpillars in Australia, so I’ve seen a fair few. Its ears are similar to an Easter Bunny, and so it has become Australia’s Easter icon. Updated on the 16th of September 2019. But more famous than anything else, are our weird Australian animals. If they’re deprived of adequate social interaction, they become so sad that they will literally stop eating and perish. These are carnivorous marsupials that grow to the size of a small dog. I couldn’t fit his antennae in the picture! The funnel-web spider injects a deadly poison whenever it bites and death occurs within an hour. Not only are Australian birds bigger and brighter in general, but they’re much noisier! Koalas need about 100 trees per animal, and much of their habitat has been destroyed by bush fires, logging and land clearing. This is really weird but female kangaroos are constantly pregnant. Discover weird & wonderful native Australian animals as well as the best zoos in Australia, snorkel & dive tours, cruises & wildlife parks. As you can see from the tag in his ear, he wasn’t completely wild. Australia has around 14% of the world’s reptile population.