What makes australian fauna unique

The central parts of Australia consist of endless deserts. The only forms of life to be found here are scorpions, snakes, rats, spiders and insects. In the south of the country, forests and grassland are to be found.

This is the home of the koala bear, which is most often hanging in a eucalyptus tree. Unfortunately, the bears are threatened with extinction, as their natural habitat is being eradicated.

Koalas are totally harmless animals, which spend all their lives in the trees feeding on leaves which make them drowsy. They often sleep most of the day and night. The Australian government has established a number of huge national parks, in order to maintain the unique flora and fauna in the country. However, Australia has another problem which seems unsolvable — that of imported species. The first animal to be imported was the dingo, a wild dog that was brought to Australia by the Aborigines.

Dingoes eat platypus eggs and bird eggs. Thomas Austin introduced rabbits to Australia for the purpose of hunting. Rabbits thrived and multiplied as rabbits do… by the millions. The government then introduced foxes in order to catch the rabbits, but foxes are lazy and soon discovered that smaller kangaroos and wallabies were easier prey.

In the s the authorities went to the drastic step of introducing a virus called myxomatosis in order to kill the rabbits, but within 20 years the animals were all immune and multiplied even faster! Today they are thought to number about million. This, together with its rigid tail, gave the Thylacine a stiff awkward walk not suitable for sprinting. What is really unusual, is that it could stand upright on its hind legs with its tail acting as a tripod support, just like a kangaroo!

It could hop short distances which was its quickest form of getaway when it was frightened or alarmed. You can help us conserve our precious lands and waters. Our planet is currently experiencing the worst wave of species die-offs since the loss of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.

And here in Australia,86 of our native flora and fauna species now critically endangered. We're running a real risk of losing some of our most iconic species forever.

Habitat destruction, introduced species and urban expansion threaten the survival of our native species. Australia's geographical isolation has meant that most of our animals have evolved separately from animals in many other parts of the world.

The result is a number of unique animal groups with some very curious ways of surviving in in the Australian environment. Since European settlement and introduced predators, hundreds of species have become extinct in Australia. Today, nearly 1 in 3 of our unique mammals is at risk of extinction! The clock is ticking for the vulnerable Greater Bilby.

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Donate now. You can help make a difference by making a donation today. Out of some terrestrial mammal species in Australia, nearly 90 percent of them are found only in Australia barring captivity and human introduction elsewhere. Beyond that, some reports show 70 percent of the birds and nearly 90 percent of reptiles are also endemic to the country, according to Tom Stalf, president and CEO of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. As a result, many of the animals in this place exhibit unique characteristics and survival techniques.

For marsupials, gestation in adult females is typically shorter than other mammals, thanks to a pouch, where vulnerable offspring are safe and also mobile immediately after birth. This can provide a great survival advantage. This is an amazing adaptation as a prey animal.

They can survive and be very prolific. One mouse-like Australian marsupial, the stripe-faced dunnart, has a gestation period of just 11 days. The larger brush-tailed possum, roughly the size of a house cat, typically gives birth within 17 days of pregnancy.

The Virginia opossum — which is the lone marsupial species found in North America — can give birth to as many as 20 babies just 13 days after pregnancy. Such is the case for the koala bear, which is not, in fact, a member of the bear family.