Australian Wildlife

MAMMALSMammals all produce milk to suckle their young. Mammals have fur or hair. There are three types of mammals and examples off each type are found in Australia.

MONOTREMES are mammals that lay soft-shelled eggs. They can be found in Australia and New Guinea.

Platypus

Echidna (Spiny Anteater)

MARSUPIALS are mammals that give birth to young which are in an immature state. The females often have pouches in which to carry the young.

The main groups of the 180 species of marsupials are:

Kangaroo

Possum

Carnivorous Marsupials (Numbats, Moles, Native Cats)

Koala, Wombat

PLACENTALS are mammals whose young are born in a more developed state, and produce a well developed placenta.

The following species are found in Australia:

Whales and Dolphins

Native Rats and Mice

Bats

Dingoes

Seals

TOOLACHE WALLABY

The last toolache wallaby was seen in 1927. It is presumed that this animal became extinct through a combination of habitat clearing for farming and sport shooting.

Feral cats

Feral cats are found throughout Australia. They kill many animals including small mammals, birds, frogs, reptiles and insects. Cats threaten the only mainland population of bandicoot in the state of Victoria.

Australian Foxes

TASMANIAN DEVIL

The Tasmanian Devil is usually black with a white "collar" or patch around its neck. It is the size of a small terrier dog very solid and "stout" and weighs in between 6 and 8 kgs It has a tail of between 9 to 12" long. Tasmanian Devils have an extremely large powerful head with a wide jaw with sharp teeth pointy pink ears (that turn red when angry due to increased blood flow) and piercing dark eyesIts dark colouring helps it to move around unseen at night time (feeding time)

TASMANIAN DEVIL

EATINGTasmanian Devils prefer to eat carrion, that is dead animals. They will eat anything lying around no matter how old and rotten, and their powerful jaws will help them crush bones so they can devour the whole carcass, meat, fur and bone, leaving nothing to pollute the environment. They can though kill their own prey such as snakes, birds, rodents,lizards, and small wallabies and lamb. it prefers to prey on animals smaller than itself It kills by inflicting a powerful bight onto the back of the neck or back of its victim It also needs to drinks water.

TASMANIAN DEVIL

SCREAMING

Tasmanian Devils are very loud especially when there are a number of them at the one carcass, trying to scare each other off. They have a range of sound, from barks to snorts to growling to screaming !. This screaming and their fierce looks gave birth to their "Devil" name

THE END !