Australian Animals

I was lightly reprimanded by my friend Dave wondering where all the Australian animals are in my photos. Well, i guess i really wasn't thinking too much about them because i've seen them so much. Unfortunately, most of them were at a zoo or sanctuary. I guess everyone is probably awaiting the same thing whereas i like showing the photos of great landscapes and buildings. I was also waiting so that i could post the better pictures of each as i've seen these in multiple spots around Australia. I did see some of these in the wild but i was either not fast enough or too far away to get decent photos so the penned-up ones will have to do. Also, i did not get any good photos of a platypus. They just never stay still and the lighting is always dark in their tanks at the zoo so you can't get good photos when you're not allowed to use flash photography.

So here's a few characters to tickle your fancy:

The ever symbolic "skippy" whom i must say taste pretty darn good if i don't say so myself! Kangaroos are sort of treated in Australia as we treat deer in the US. Their populations need to be controlled so they are hunted.














The wallaby is a cousin to the kangaroo. This is a Rock Wallaby in the photo. Wallabies are quite a bit smaller than kangaroos, have shorter ears and snouts, and seem to be more populated as i've seen them wild in a number of situations. It's not always easy, though. Like kangaroos, wallabies are most active during the dawn and dusk and shelter themselves from the heat of the sun during the day.







The ever-lovable "drop bear". Contrary to popular belief, Koalas are not bears and they do not randomly drop from trees. They are also not constantly high from the eucalyptus leaves either. If they drop, it is a rare accident. Koalas seems slow and high and sleep about 16 hours a day as they need to conserve energy as they do not get much from there diet of eucalyptus leaves. I must also say that i did not see a single wild koala even though we were told they are all over the place and we also went on walks specifically looking for them.














The wombat is a lot bigger than i'd expected. It's about the size of a small beagle but is much rounder and has a denser body. They seem to be quite tame animals too and also sleep quite a bit. One guide i've had said he's heard a story where a wombat wandered onto the highway in front of a car. The car rode on top of it, overturned, and got wrapped around a tree killing both passengers. The wombat walked away. We did see one of these in the wild done on Wilson's Promontory.



The dingo is not a native dog of Australia. It is believed to have been introduced by visitors from the mainland of Asia or the islands of Oceania a few hundred years before Europeans discovered Australia in the late 1800's. Supposedly, all dingos stem from the same gene pool so it is believed that there were only a male and female released. The dingo is responsible for drastically decreasing the numbers of native animals. I saw one wild dingo on Fraser Island in a total of three days camping though we were extensively warned about them.


The Tasmanian Devil is now only native to the island of Tasmania. These were all killed off after the introduction of the dingo onto the mainland of Australia. They are carnivores, tend to sleep a lot, and they do a 180 degree turn as they pace to and fro which is probably how the cartoon character we love got his trademark. I didn't hear them bark but they sure can tear at raw meat. It totally takes away from the cuteness.




"Kookabura sits in the old gum tree. Merry, merry king of the bush is he..."

Cousin of the kingfisher family, these are some weird looking birds. They almost look like they could be mentally retarded with wide staring eyes long akward beak. I did hear a few kookabura laughs and saw many of them in the wild.




Lorikeets are very colorful birds. I think they may be related to the parakeet because of the name similarity but they are very colorful like a parrot. I've seen these in the wild all over the eastern coast. This photo is taken at a sancturary where they bring out a bunch of seed and the birds go nuts. Australia also has the largest variety of parrots in the world which is news to me as i was always under the impression that most came from South America.



The emu is similar to the ostrich. It is the largest flightless bird in Australia. These things are kinda mangy looking to me, though. They also have a very creepy, evil look when they are approaching you. I've eaten some emu in the form of a sausage. It was quite good but i can't be completely sure because i believe i was tasting most of the sausage spices rather than the meat.




And this is the ever-elusive cassowary. This is the second largest flightless bird of Australia and is considered close to being on the endangered animals list. It is slightly smaller than the emu and inhabits the tropical and subtropical rainforests of the eastern coast. While i was in the Cairns area, our tour guides were always reverent to keep on the lookout for cassowaries in the bush. Didn't see a one. Luckilly i got to see this one at a sanctuary east of Brisbane. The blue head is even more so bright in real life rather than how this photo presents it.