Native Australian Animals

Platypus

- Found in Eastern Australia

- Lives on the edges of rivers and fresh water lakes

- Very shy animal

- Great swimmers

- Has a bill that looks like a ducks bill

- Eats shrimps and worms

Kangaroo

- Marsupials

- Herbivores: Eats a variety of plants

- Strong back legs and long feet

- Baby Kangaroos are called joeys

- Kangaroos jump very high

Koala

- Mammal: Feeds their young milk

- Koalas are mostly grey with white ears

- Mainly eats eucalypt leaves

- Can be found in South Eastern Australia

Possum

- Marsupial

- Normally found in bushland and rainforests

- Lives in logs and hollow tress

- Hunts for food at night (Nocturnal)

- Eats anything it can find such as leaves and fruits

Tasmania Devil

- Carnivore: Eats meat

- Mammal: Has its babies in its pouch

- Nocturnal: Spends the day sleeping and hunts at night

- Fount in Tasmania

- Very powerful jaws

- Shy animal

Frilled Neck / Blue Tongue Lizard

Frilled Neck:

- Has a frilled neck that is normally closed but will open when frightened

- Eats insects such as ants and cicadas

Blue Tongue:

- Dark blue tongue

- Very thick body

- Moves slowly

Dingo

- Mammal

- Carnivores: Eats meat and hunts mainly at night

- Hunts alone or in pairs

- Has a bushy tail

- Dingos don’t bark, they hail

Wombat

- Herbivore

- Has long claws which are used for digging

- Lives in burrows

- Comes out of borrow at night to eat grass and plants (Shrubs, roots and bark)

Echidna

- The Echidna is a mammal (Lays eggs and produces milk).

- Also know as the spiny anteaters.

- Covered with sharp spines.

- Found all over Australia.

- Long snout and long sticky tongue

- Eats ants and termites