What makes australian animals unique?

Kangaroos are large marcupials who carry their young in their pouch until large enough to live on their own.

Kangaroos can be distinguished by their big tail that helps them hop and jump and move quickly through the bush.

Koalas are small round and cuddly. They live in eucalypt trees and eat their leaves. If our eucalypt trees are cut down, koalas homes may be lost too.

Koalas, do have claws for climbing and staying in the trees they live in. They love eating eucalyt leaves and sleeping.

The platapus lives in water and swims, swims and swims. Platypus's have web like feet, a furry body and a bill mouth. The platypus sleeps in little burrows that are accessable from the water.

The wombat is a small short haired cuddly looking creature that has cute ears and big claws to dig with. They are a ground animal and dig, dig, dig.

The echidna is a ground animal that eats ants and termites. They have a thin nose and long tongue. Being so small and living in the bush, they have spiky like needle or hairs that are called spines to protect them. The echidna eats termites and ants as it wanders the bush.

The Cockatoo is a bird that has a hooked beak and a loud call that tells you when they are near. The white cockatoo is said to be good luck if seen according to aboriginal legend.

The Kookaburra sits and sings the morning in, sounding like a joyous laugh. You can see the he Kookaburra's long beak in the photo. You cannot not know the song of the Kookaburra once youve heard its call.

This little devil is only found on the small island of Tasmania. It is known for its teeth, cry and temperament. Thus, named the tasmanian devil. Listed as an endangered species in 1995, the Devil still exists in forests and rainforests on the island. It was said to live upon the mainland many years ago. Being mainly nocturnal and the only carniverous marsupial, the Tasmanian devil as pictured, is said to be more bluff than bite. Yet I would not like to test this theory.

There are many wonderful Australian native animals. The bandicoot, the ringtailed possum, quolls, the quacker found only on Rottness Island. There are frogs and lizards, native bees and wallabys. Yellow tailed black cockatoos and the now said to be extinct, tasmanian tiger. The howl of the dingo in the Northern Territory and the native aquatic species in our waters. I will tell you more of these....

There are also numerous Australian animals that were caught in the flood waters in Queensland in 2010 especially.

There were some fantastic photos  on yahoo of our loved and cherished species being carried from the flood ridden waters and of a Kangaroo amazingly perched on a mound about 6 feet square, surrounded by flood water. I hope the photographer remembered to get someone to help the dear roo off its little survival post!(they are all copyright protected, so I cant add one here, but heres a link to the yahoo images page.)

I wish to add that a year earlier, parts of Victoria, south eastern Australia, there were fires last January and there were many bush animals caught in the blaze. One special Koala became the mascot of the recovery effort. Sam!

Attribution for flickr creative commons photos and TA photos given with photo. Thankyou.

All TA photos are copyright TA and used with express permission.

Copyright jmkwriting 2010.