Australia has an incredible array of extraordinary native animals. Take the iconic kangaroo bounding gracefully across landscapes with its joey snug in its pouch. Marvel at the strange little platypus —a mammal that lays eggs! Read about these and 100s of other amazing Australian animals here.
Rakali (Water Rat)
The Rakali is a semi-aquatic native placental mammal. It lives in burrows on the banks of rivers. It eats insects, fish, crustaceans, snails, and frogs.
Cockatoo Parrot
The Sulphur-crested Cockatoo is a very noisy large white parrot with a large yellow crest that it fans out. It eats berries, seeds, nuts and roots.
Blue-Ringed Octopus
The blue-ringed octopus bite is painless and may go unnoticed. However, its toxin acts quickly. Death may occur in as little as 30 minutes
Tiger Snake
Tiger snakes are large, aggressive snakes responsible for the second-highest number of bites in Australia. Their venom is neurotoxic.
Goanna
The goanna is the largest lizard in Australia and the fourth-largest in the world. If threatened, it whips its tail, bites, and claws its victim.
Dolphin
Dolphins are very vocal, playful, intelligent, social animals that live in groups of up to 15 animals. They feed on invertebrates, fish, and squid.
Parrot
Australia has 56 species of colourful parrots. It has two-thirds of the world’s cockatoos and around one-eighth of the world’s parrots.
Sea Lion
Australian sea lions stocky bodies, a large head, and short narrow flippers. The male is twice as large as the female. They hunt fish and squid.
Red-eyed Tree Frog
Red-eye tree frogs live in Australian rainforests and wetlands. They are nocturnal hunters that feed on moths and insects.
Taipan
Taipans are large, fast-moving snakes. They are some of the most venomous snakes in the world but prefer to avoid confrontation with humans.
Peacock Mantis Shrimp
Peacock mantis shrimps have the fastest punch in the world, creating small implosions in the water that generates heat, light, and sound.
Handfish
Handfish prefer to walk on their pectoral and pelvic fins rather than swim. They live at depths of 5-40m and eat crustaceans and worms.
Red-fronted Parakeet
Red-fronted parakeets were quite common till about 1879. They became extinct because of hunting by humans and as a result of the feral cat.
Whale
Humpback whales travel up from the Antarctic to give birth and feed their young. They can grow to 12 – 16 metres and weigh 36,000 kgs.
Plains Wanderer
Plains wanderers are small quail-like birds that live in semi-arid grasslands. They prefer to run rather than fly and fall easy prey to foxes.
Loggerhead Turtle
Loggerhead Turtles are the largest hard-shelled turtles in the world. They are carnivorous, feeding on shellfish, crabs, sea urchins, and jellyfish.
Eastern Bettong
The eastern bettong became extinct on the mainland in the 1920s as the result of the introduction of the red fox and rabbit.
Gastric-brooding Frog
Gastric-brooding frogs incubated their babies in the mother's stomach. They became extinct in the mid-1980s due to a pathogenic fungus.
Green Turtle
Green turtles feed on seagrasses, but they also eat the venomous box jellyfish. They get their name from the colour of their fat.
Textile Cone
The Textile Cone's harpoon-like tooth can pierce the skin, rubber gloves and wetsuits. Its venom causes respiratory paralysis and eventual death
Leatherback Turtle
It is the largest turtle of them all. It is called a leatherback because it doesn't have a hard shell but has leathery skin. It eats jellyfish and invertebrates.