Australia

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Creature feature | striped possum

  The striped possum is most commonly found in New Guinea and several small islands including the Solomon Islands. In Australia, it lives in Australia, in tropical rainforests and eucalypt eucalypt woodland along the east coast of Cape York Peninsula and as far south as Townsville, but is otherwise uncommon and rarely seen elsewhere in Australia. Like many species of wildlife in Australia – no-one knows how many there are / might be, since surveying the areas where they live...

Creature feature | the brilliant bilby

The Bilby has bene offered as an alternative to the Easter bunny  What is there difference between the Bilby and Bandicoot? Bilbies have the characteristic long bandicoot muzzle and very big ears that radiate heat. They are about 29–55 cm (11–22 in) long. Compared to bandicoots, they have a longer tail, bigger ears, and softer, silky fur. The size of their ears allows them to have better hearing.   For more, including conservation efforts, check out Save the Bilby Fund...

Habitats | Channel Country in Australia – some good news!

12 December 2023, the Queensland Government made this announcement: “Today, the Queensland government will announce historic protections for the Channel Country’s rivers and floodplains. Under the protections, any future oil or gas drilling in the floodplain areas of the Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre basin would be prohibited. Today’s announcement will come after eight years of rolling commitments from Queensland Labor to protect the Channel Country rivers and floodplains since they entered government in 2015. Throughout this time Traditional Owners, Channel Country...

Creature Feature….the digging machine called Wombat!

October 22nd is World Wombat Day…..   Interesting Facts Wombats are natural digging machines and perform a very important role in our ecosystem. Wombats can dramatically improve soil health by bringing important nutrients to the surface and help organic matter and plant seedling mix into compacted soil through their burrowing actions. But sadly, wombats are disappearing. The fatal combination of disease, increasing habitat loss, road deaths and extreme weather events are all serious threats to the future of our precious...

Flying-foxes: Guardians of biodiversity

  September was Biodiversity Month in Australia — a month dedicated to promoting the importance of biodiversity through awareness, conservation, and sustainable practices. The following from Wildlife Queensland, hightlights well the importance of …. Flying-foxes, also known as fruit bats, as the unsung biodiversity heroes. Extraordinary members of the animal kingdom These intelligent, sentient mammals bring life to our forests and keep the ecological balance intact. But as they face numerous challenges, including habitat loss and human conflicts, it’s important...

Creature Feature | The wallaby

  Question – Is a Wallaby a (small type of) Kangaroo? Answer: No! The Wallaby is a small marsupial, actually much smaller than its big sister / cousin the kangaroo sister. One of the biggest characteristics of the wallaby that separates them from kangaroos is size Body Shape: Both are known to be the happy “hopping” creature of the Australian brush because they are both macropods, meaning they both have overly large feet. Kangaroo legs are really long between the...

DID YOU KNOW? Koala myths

The drop bear (sometimes dropbear) is a hoax in contemporary Australian folklore featuring a predatory, carnivorous version of the koala. This imaginary animal is commonly spoken about in tall tales designed to scare tourists. Koalas are actually  marsupials. Did you guess the animal that features on the background of this website…..?...

Seaweek 2023 | Australia is a marine nation….

SeaWeek-Yearly-Generic-Poster-aqfzpl From Sat. 4 March – Sun. 12 March 2023….. SeaWeek is Australia’s major national public awareness campaign to focus community awareness, provide information and encourage an appreciation of the sea. SeaWeek gives us a fantastic opportunity to promote educational issues of relevance to the marine environment. SeaWeek events are organised and run by environmental and marine educators across the country. Australia is a marine nation. We have one of the largest ocean territories in the world, and it drives our...

Wildlife News | ‘Exploding’ feral deer a very real Aussie problem

Feral deer will become Australia’s ‘next rabbit plague’ without a containment zone, experts say According to the Guardian Australia newspaper : Populations of feral deer have increased tenfold in the past two decadeswith numbers now too high to be managed by recreational hunting or other recent control measures. Numbers of the invasive species are now so large in some parts of the east coast that a new national strategy by federal and state governments proposes establishing a “containment zone” to...