Wilbert the Wacky Wombat

Funnily they use their backsides to defend themselves! Their skin is hardened so that it is hard for predators like dingoes to bite in to it. When threatened the Wombat will dive down his nearest burrow and block it with his bum!

There are only three species of Wombat and each one is only found in a few selected regions of Australia. The Common Wombat is, as its name quite rightly suggests, the most abundant of all the Wombats and is found on the eastern edges of New South Wales, Victoria and all over Tasmania. The Northern Hairy Nosed Wombat only exists in a very remote pocket of Epping Forest Scientific National Park in central Queensland. This is one of the most endangered animals and the rarest marsupial on earth with only 115 remaining in the wild park. The close cousin, the Southern Hairy Nosed Wombat, is located in the South Australia territory and is also critically endangered.

These burrowing herbivores love a little dig. These mammals dig quite eccentric housing structures with intricate tunnels leading to underground chambers beneath the grasslands and eucalyptus forests of southern Australia. They have really strong sharp teeth and claws which they use to dig furiously in the dirt. Wombats are fairly solitary animals, although on some occasions have been known to socialize in small colonies. The strong legs of the Wombat come in handy when under threat. Even though they look like innocent cuddly creatures, they can sprint at about 40 kph for a short while and use their back legs to kick out at dingoes or Tasmanian devils who try to attack. Wombats don’t show fear for humans so they often charge at us and because they are fairly powerful and weigh up to 35 kilos.

If you like tracking animals then tracking a Wombat might excite you. Strangely they have poo-poo that is the shape of a cube. Don’t put it in your coffee or eat it though because I don’t think it will taste too good. Alternatively you can just enjoy supporting all the world’s Wombats by celebrating Wombat day on 22nd October every year.

Check out some more photos of our fine marsupial friends on Flickr

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Leopard Seals, named after their fine spotted coats, tend to live on their own, only ever pairing up during mating season. Just like their feline namesake, Leopard Seals are formidable hunters, quick and agile in the water, they are the only seal to feed on other seals. This seal is known to be the most ferocious of all seals and it’s long sharp teeth and crushing jaws support this. They are powerful mammals with excellent sight and smell allowing them to sneak up and manoeuvre in shallower waters really well. Other Antarctic seals like the Elephant seal, tend to be deep water hunters and can dive to depths of hundreds of meters in search of food.

Because the Leopard Seal is such a fierce hunter its only real predator is the Orca (Killer Whale) and a few other large sharks. The favourite meal of the Leopard Seal is the penguin, it lies in wait for them to jump in the water from coastal islands and small rocks, at which point he grabs their little legs and shakes them to death. Other than penguins, squid, sea birds and other seals are commonly on the menu, with krill for appetizer and crunchy crustaceans for desert!

Leopard Seals are quite large mammals, around 3 meters long, only the Elephant Seal grows bigger. They have evolved strong front flippers, quite similar to Sea Lions making them agile, aiding them in snooping around as they are quite curious creatures. You can swim with them, but they are perfectly capable of killing a human, although it has only ever happened once.

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Loggerhead turtles have the biggest geographical range of any turtle, they can be found across the world’s oceans and seas from the Atlantic and Pacific to the Indian and Mediterranean. During their extreme treks across the seven seas these turtles will munch on conchs, crabs and other crustaceans as well as the usual fish and jellyfish. They are rarely spotted out of the water but the female of the species will often travel thousands of miles back to the beach where she hatched to build her own nests to lay the next generation of these cute critters. As with most turtles the females shuffle on to the beach to build a sand pit in which they deposit over 100 eggs. The sex of the little squiggly hatchlings depends on the temperature they are incubated at. Too hot and they become females, too cold and they turn into males, just right and a nice little mix of the two start to wiggle into the sea under the moon light.

Loggerheads are the largest hard shell turtle in the world and are famous for their large heads and extremely strong jaws. They are no match for even the crunchiest of creatures. These fantastic reptiles are still critically endangered despite exhaustive efforts to protect them – they are often found caught in fishing nets and with their stomachs full of plastic. Did you know that Loggerheads have metal in their heads which allows them to navigate using the earth’s magnetic field?

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I felt it was a little unfair that the Northern White Rhinoceros was getting a lot of attention in the news recently and quite rightly so. These are sadly on the brink of extinction, with none known to be alive in the wild, although 4 individuals are being reintroduced into the wild in Kenya. But it is important to highlight the fact that the history of this sub-species is also recognized. These lovely mammals, who are found in the central and southern grassy Savannah’s and woodlands of Africa, were once themselves on the edge of extinction. As far back as 100 years ago these guys were thought to be extinct and their Northern brothers used to run all over Africa in abundance, how quickly things change! Around 17,000 Southern White Rhinos are thought to be alive as opposed to only about 8 Northern White Rhinos, all of which are in zoos and protected reserves.

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As they are only native to New Zealand’s’ Southern Island they often make up a part of the tourist trail with the famous Kiwi often stealing the lime light. I think that they get quite annoyed that they are not given as much attention as the Kiwi and annoy the tourists by giving their cars a cheeky peck. They are particularly fond of car tyres. They are actually extremely beautiful birds, with a green top wing and lovely orange under-wing. These guys were once endangered because they were ordered to be systematically culled because they were attacking livestock. Since then though they have been put under official protection and are thriving. So next time you are wandering about the New Zealand Alps be sure to check these crazy creatures out, but be careful not to get too close.

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The elephant is the only mammal to have helical bands of muscle. These are all in their trunk, which enables them to move it strongly in pretty much any way imaginable. Elephants have a long gestation period of 22 months before the calf is born. Despite this they are still pretty incompetent on arrival and also blind. They will learn all their survival skills from the elder elephants in the herd. A number of females from the herd without a calf will help out looking after the calf, acting as babysitters.

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With a distinct blue head and a bizarre cask on their head, they are usually shy and rarely spotted in the wild. This young one obviously hadn’t yet realised it was supposed to be shy and was found ambling across the road!

They are quite aggressive, and have been known to attack people with their powerful legs and sharp claws, so best stay out of their way and take pictures from a distance…

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