Australian Wildlife
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Walleroo. Osphranter robustus Meet Saxon our grandson with one of his friends. 'Skippy' the walleroo likes a feed of grain now and then. Her half grown joey still prefers feeding from the pouch though and even tried to get into it after I took the photo. Kangaroo, Wallaroo and Wallaby all come in a variety of sizes and colours. This one is a grey walleroo, commonly found in the western and eastern slopes of the Great Dividing Range. Male Wallaroos can grow up to 1.2 meters high standing upright. |
Meet Jake, the eldest of our grandsons. He likes Kanga, a grey wallaroo that lives in a local wild life reserve. Kanga is a young buck and is partial to a bit of sparing. When Kanga stands upright and flexes his muscles, Jake takes off! |
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Red Kangaroo. Megaleia rufa The red kangaroos live on the inland plains and are the largest of all kangaroos and wallabies. An adult male can reach 1.8m high when standing up. Kangaroos live in a family group called a 'mob'. Males are called 'bucks' and females are called 'does'. Baby kangaroos, known as 'joeys', are born blind like many other animals then make their way to the pouch where they live until out-growing it. Does make good mothers and are protective of their young in the wild. If a mob is threatened, a doe will hide her joey in the bush so she can keep up with the other kangaroos making a getaway. When she thinks it is safe, the doe will return to collect her baby. |
Echidna. Spiny ant eater. Tachyglossus aculeatus Female Echidnas only lay one egg and suckle their young in a pouch. When anything threatens them, they roll up into spiny ball or rapidly dig themselves into the ground. Echidnas live on ants, insects and termites and break the nest open with sharp claws before using its sticky tongue to collect the contents. This one was digging into an ant nest beside a road, but took off for the bush when we got close. They are no relation to porcupines (which are rodents) found in Europe or America. |
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Koala. Phascolarctos cinereus. Often incorrectly referred to as a bear, koalas are pouched marsupials and only eat the leaves of certain eucalyptus trees in which they live. They rear their young in a rear opening pouch for six months then carry them on their back. Although they look friendly and cuddly, koalas are rarely kept as pets. They are nocturnal and sometimes sleep for up to twenty hours per day. Koalas don't drink, but they have the habit of peeing on anyone who picks them up. Maybe that is their way of telling us to leave them alone. |
Wombat. Vombatus hirsutus. * "Sebastian" The common Wombat is found throughout the coastal and mountian regions of south-eastern Australia. Several species existed in other areas including the Bass Straight islands, but many are now extinct. Wombats eat grasses, bark and roots and live in burrows usually several metres long. They are not aggressive and sometimes kept as a pet, but difficult to keep in an enclosure because of their strength and powefull claws. * Thanks to John Kosseck for the original photograph of Sebastian. |
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