Australia is one of the biggest countries in the world. It includes many different environments from rainforests to deserts, from grasslands to tropical beaches. Its isolation from the rest of the world means that many native Australian animals cannot be found anywhere else.
Kangaroos are probably the most famous marsupials we know. They live all over Australia. The big Red Kangaroos live in the deserts while the smaller grey kangaroos live on the east and south – eastern coast.
Another wonderful animal is the koala that live in the forest. It eats eucalyptus leaves and need between 200 to 500 grams of leaves every day to survive. The best place to see koalas is in the Blue Mountains near Sidney. This mountains are called “blue” because the high temperatures cause these trees to emit a fine mist discharge created from the eucalyptus oil from its leaves. This oil mist then combines with dust particles and water vapor as it rises to surround the area giving it an overall blue tint, especially when the sun shines high and bright.
Emus are Australian birds. They can grow up to 190cm tall! It is curious that after the female emu lays her eggs, the male emu incubates them and raises the chicks without any help from the female.
The quokka is a marsupial and it is about the size of a cat. Lots of them live on Rottnest Island and they are very friendly to humans.
Dingoes are native wild dogs, descended from the domestic dogs that arrived in Australia 4,000 years ago. They look cute but can be dangerous.
Tasmania devils are only found on the island of Tasmania, south east of Australia. They have the same size of a dog and are marsupials
Cockatoos are similar to parrots but they are larger than them. They have a colorful crests on their heads. The most common cockatoos are white with a yellow crest.
In the rainforests of Queensland saltwater crocodiles live. They can grow up to 7 meters long and they are very dangerous.
An unusual animal is the platypus, a mixture between a beaver and a duck. It is a mammal that lays eggs.
In The Great Barriere Reef, the largest coral reef in the world, 1,500 species of fish live as well other sea creatures.
Many species oh whales, migrating from Antarctica, can be seen along the coast of New South Wales, especially in autumn.
Turtles can be found along the northern coast of Australia and you can watch baby turtles hatch from their shells and enter the sea for the first time
Wildlife is amazing in Australia but the wildfires in 2019 and 2020, linked also to the climate change, burned part of Australian territory and killed millions of animals. Wildfires happens every year in Australia but due to the Earth’s rising temperature, things have been getting worse.
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