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Australia is the smallest continent of
the world located in Oceania between the South Pacific Ocean
and the Indian Ocean. The country has a population of over
twenty million.
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In
Australia, there is also a large of number of
animals which are unique to country. When talking
about Australia, the main animals that one thinks of
are: kangaroos, koalas. But there are other animals
as the crocodiles, wombats, whale, thorny devil,
goannas, parrots, platypus, penguin, sea dragons,
Australian furseal, giant cuttlefish, yabby, red
kangaroos, sawfish, great white sharks,
Oystercatcher, owls, echidna, Tasmanian tiger known
as thylacine, wallaby, Green ant tree and the snake
necked turtle. These are a part of the list of the
unique animals to Australia, there are more. |
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Here are some information about the
different animals from Australia talked above.
Crocodile
In Australia thee are two types of crocodiles, the fresh and
salt water crocodiles. The biggest world crocodiles are the
salt water crocodile.
The two types of crocodiles look different; the fresh water
crocodiles have a narrower snout and are smaller than the
salt water crocodiles. Salt water crocodiles can live in
both salty and fresh water while fresh water crocodile can
mainly live in fresh water to very slightly salty.
The Australian are mainly found along the northern coast to
two hundred kilometres inland, from Rockhampton on
Queensland to Broome in Western Australia.
The two Australian crocodiles type like as habitat mainly
watery regions where tidal rivers meet the sea, sometimes
found also in open sea or inland fresh water billabongs and
swamps.
The salty water crocodiles are very strong and can eat
larger animals. The young crocodiles feed on smaller fishes,
insects and crustaceans. The larger crocs also eat carrion
if they are hungry.
The salty water crocs lay their eggs in a nest in vegetation
while the fresh water crocs lay their eggs in sand. The sex
of the baby crocodiles is determined by the temperature at
which the eggs are kept. At around thirty one degrees
Celsius the eggs will become male and hotter or colder it
will be a female.
The Estuarine crocodile became since 1970 became a protected
species.
Wombats
There is in Australia three different species of wombats
which are herbivorous marsupial. The wombats usually have
longs claws which are used for digging; they live in burrows
from where they come out at night to feed.
The three species are the northern hairy nose wombats, the
common wombats and the southern hairy nose wombats.
The northern hairy nose wombat is for Australia the most
endangered mammal.
The northern hairy nose wombats are found in only one in the
world, in the Epping Forest National Park in central
Queensland. In the past, during the nineteenth century the
northern hairy wombat was also found in Victoria and New
South Wales.
These mammals feed night with grasses, roots and herbs.
The name comes from its muzzle which is full of short brown
hairs. The northern hairy nose wombat can weigh up to forty
kilos. The animal is strong with short powerful legs. It has
soft and silky fur and usually brown in color.
The breeding period is during the wet season in Australia
from November to April.
There is a preservation program decided in order to protect
the most endangered mammal species of Australia.
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The common
wombats are the most common wombats found known as
Vombatus ursinus. It is easy to recognize the common
to its relatives the northern and southern hairy
nose wombats by its nose which is not hairy; it has
also a rounder head and smaller ears. They have a
nickname known as Bulldozers of the Bush because
they are strong and can move heavy things on their
way as farmer’s fences. The common wombats are found
in Victoria, New South Wales, south eastern South
Australia, and Tasmania. Their main habitats are
usually forested areas where the ground can be
burrowed. |
The common wombats
from Australia can dig tunnels from two to twenty meters
long. The common wombats as its relatives are herbivorous
and feed on mainly grass and look for food mainly during the
night and can spend hours browsing for food. |
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