The Great White Shark. The saltwater crocodile WILDLIFE OF AUSTRALIA. The great white shark lives off all the coasts of Australia.

Transcription

1 The Great White Shark The great white shark lives off all the coasts of Australia. The great white eats fish and other sharks. Sometimes it even attacks small whales! It also eats animals that are dead. The great white attacks its prey once and lets it bleed to death before it eats it. The great white is very big. It weighs about 1,300 kilos and is 3.5 to 5 metres long. It has a grey back and a white underbelly. The female is larger than the male. Fun fact: Sharks need to swim or they will sink! If you are strong enough to hold a shark or even drag it backwards, you will kill it. The saltwater crocodile The saltwater crocodile lives on the northern coast of Australia. The saltwater crocodile is usually 4 metres long, but some crocodiles can grow up to 7 metres long! It is the world s largest reptile. It eats all kinds of animals and humans too. The female crocodile lays up to 60 eggs at a time. But only a small number of crocodiles survive when they are born. Fun fact: The temperature of the female crocodile s egg determines if it is a boy crocodile or a girl crocodile.

2 The tiger snake The tiger snake lives in eastern and southern Australia. It is called a tiger snake because it has a striped skin. The tiger snake can grow up to 1.5 metres in length. It eats all kinds of animals, for example frogs, fish or birds. The tiger snake attacks if it feels threatened or disturbed. It usually lives in the same area for many years. More and more tiger snakes live in Australian suburbs such as in Melbourne. Fun fact: In Melbourne, snakes are often found in beds, bathrooms, cars or other places. It takes a snake catcher to remove them safely. The kangaroo The kangaroo lives all over Australia. Some kangaroos live high up in the trees! There are over 60 different species of kangaroo and they only eat plants. Kangaroos have very strong back legs with large feet. They hop on their back legs and the tail is used to keep their balance when they hop or as a fifth leg when they move slowly. Kangaroos can jump at a speed of 60 kilometres per hour. It can jump six metres in length and three metres up in the air. The baby kangaroo lives in its mother s pouch for the first nine months after it is born. It is called a Joey and feeds on milk. Fun fact: Kangaroos hop instead of running on their feet because it uses less energy.

3 The koala The koala lives in eastern and southern Australia. It mostly eats leaves and bark from eucalyptus trees. It gets most of its water from eating leaves. It has very thick, soft fur. It can live for up to about 17 years. It sleeps for 16 to 18 hours a day and eats when it is awake. The female koala has one baby a year. It is called a Joey (like kangaroo babies) and is hairless, blind and earless when it is born. It crawls into its mother s pouch and stays there for nine months. It feeds on milk before it is big enough to eat eucalyptus leaves. Fun fact: The koala has fingerprints that look just like human fingerprints. The wombat The wombat is found in south-eastern Australia and in Tasmania. It lives in burrows under the ground and it is not very sociable. The wombat eats grass and roots. Its teeth are very strong so it can easily chew roots or bark. It looks like a small bear and its fur can be sandy, brown or grey. The wombat lives from five to over thirty years. The baby wombat is blind and hairless. It stays in its mother s pouch until it is four to ten months old. It keeps close to its mother for about two years. Fun fact: Since 2005, there has been an unofficial holiday called Wombat Day on 22 October. On this day people collect money to save the wombat.

4 The Tasmanian devil The Tasmanian devil only lives in Tasmania. It is as big as a small dog and known for its loud screech. It lives in forests and woodland near the coast and eats almost everything. The Tasmanian devil has black fur and a very strong bite. It weighs from 4 to 12 kilos and lives for up to five years. The female devil gives birth to baby devils a year. When they are born, they crawl into their mother s pouch. They stay there for about four months, but only a handful of babies survive. Fun fact: It is against the law to take the devil away from Tasmania. But two Tasmanian devils live in Copenhagen Zoo. They were given to Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary when their son, Prince Christian, was born. Spider About 40,000 species of spider exist, and only one of them is vegetarian. Spiders like to eat insects, small birds, lizards or even other spiders. They hunt in different ways. We know that they sit and wait in their silky cobwebs. But sometimes they run after their prey, and sometimes they throw a sticky lasso to catch the prey. They can even act like their prey so it does not become suspicious. Sydney funnel-web spiders are among the most dangerous in Australia. The male is smaller than the female, but his bite can be deadly. He is highly aggressive, especially when he is looking for a lady spider. When that happens he wanders around and hides in people s gardens, swimming pools or even shoes. Fun fact: There are approximately 1,500 different species of Australian spider.

5 Outback The outback covers most of Australia it is an enormous area of no man s land. Much of it is desert. In the middle of the big, flat desert of Central Australia, Uluru or Ayers Rock rises impressively from out of the flat ground. The Australian outback is full of wildlife which has learned to live in the harsh conditions. However, much of it may not be immediately visible to the casual observer. Many animals, such as kangaroos and dingoes, hide in bushes to rest and keep cool during the heat of the day. Even camels have found their way to the outback. Fun fact: Temperatures can be as high as 50 degrees C on a summer s day, but drop to -10 degrees C on a winter s night. Sheep One sheep, many sheep they are indeed numerous throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and Australia. Sheep are popular domestic animals because their wool keeps humans warm. Their milk and meat are also popular. Sheep mostly eat grass and have four stomachs that ensure that they get all the energy from the grass. Sheep can be found wild, but that is rare. Wild sheep have big horns and are also related to goats and antelopes. Fun fact: If a sheep falls over and lies on its back, it cannot get up.