Animals Unique to Australia

Marsupials

Marsupials are mammals that give birth to tiny young, which spend the first part of their lives in their mother’s pouch — such as the kangaroo with her young (called a ‘joey’).

The baby kangaroo measures only 2.5 cm at birth, and is carried in the mother’s pouch for 6-8 months.

Half of the world’s species of marsupials are found only in Australia or Papua New Guinea. Other Australian marsupials include wombats and koalas.

Koalas live, eat and sleep in the branches of eucalyptus trees, only coming down to move to another tree. Eucalyptus leaves are the koala’s main source of both food and water.

Platypus

The platypus is only found in Australia and Tasmania and it must be one of the world’s strangest animals. In fact, the first time the preserved body of a platypus was taken to Britain, scientists there refused to believe that it was real!

Strange — but true ...

• It’s a mammal — but it lays eggs.

• It eats its own weight in food, every day! It swims underwater to catch frogs, shellfish and worms on the bottom of rivers and streams.

• It has a bill and webbed feet, like a duck; thick, soft fur and a flat tail; and the male has claws on its back legs tipped with a powerful poison.

Animals Unique to New Zealand

Australia’s neighbour, New Zealand, has very few native species of land animals. For this reason, a large number of flightless birds native to the country have managed to survive in safety.

Most famous of these is the kiwi. It sleeps underground during the day and looks for food by night. It is very shy and avoids human contact.

The kakapo, also called the owl parrot, is one of the world’s rarest birds. As well as being the largest parrot in the world, it is the only parrot that is nocturnal and the only one that can’t fly. Unlike the kiwi, the kakapo is unafraid of people and has been known to climb up a man’s body and sit on his head.

Although they are not native to New Zealand, penguins also migrate here from the Antarctic during the winter months.

Flightless Birds

Also native to Australia are two large, flightless birds — the emu and the cassowary. Both birds have huge bodies and long legs, and are fast runners. The cassowary lives in the tropical rain forest, and is dangerous because it has very sharp claws. The emu lives in deserts, plains and forests, and farmers consider it a pest; because it eats their crops.

Tasmanian Devil

The Tasmanian devil is now extinct in the rest of Australia, but a few can still be found in remote parts of Tasmania.

About the size of a small dog, this marsupial is called a ‘devil’ because of its fierce looks, its bad temper and the strange noise it makes.

Despite its large jaws, strong teeth and aggressive behaviour, it doesn’t often hunt other animals. Instead, it eats animals ― mainly sheep ― that are already dead when it finds them.

1. Answer the following questions:

1) Which animals/birds are native to:

a) Australia;

b) New Zealand.

2) Which animal/ bird eats…

a) dead sheep?

b) eucalyptus?

c) frogs, worms and shellfish?

d) farmers’ crops?

3) List all of the:

a) marsupials;

b) flightless birds mentioned in the texts.

2. Fill in the table:

Country	Animals/ Birds	Characteristic Features
Australia	1.
	2.
	3.
	4.
	5.
	6.
New Zealand	1.
	2.
	3.
	4.
Canada	1.
	2.
	3.

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