Passport to Oz

At one time, all the continents were part of one large land mass. Australia became separated from this mass about 200 million years ago. Because of this, its animals and plantlife developed differently from those on other continents. Australia has a most unusual collection of animals and plants. Almost half of the world's marsupials are here. They vary in size from tiny pouched mice to large kangaroos. Possums, wallabies, wombats and bandicoots are all marsupials

Do you know the names of the animals below? Why not click on an animal and explore Australias wildlife!

If you know of any other interesting animals living in Australia why not e-mail me at

This is a kangaroo. The best known and the largest kangaroos are the giant or great grey kangaroo and the red or woolly kangaroo. The kangaroo is a vegetarian and can be tamed. The wallaby and kangaroo rat are smaller species of the kangaroo.

Koala is an aboriginal word meaning 'no drink'. The koala eats only one food, the leaves of the eucalyptus tree. It eats absolutely nothing else! It spends most of its life in trees, feeding at night and sleeping for up to 18 hours a day. The young koala is kept in the marsupial pouch for about six months, after which time the female carries it on her back until it is half grown.

The Aborigines introduced a dog called a dingo to Australia. Some of these dogs escaped into the wild. Their descendants are now among the fiercest of the wild animals in the country. The dingo's main food is the walllaby but it also kills sheep. The Australian Government has spent large sums of money trying to control dingoes.

Two kinds of crocodiles live in the north. Many types of lizards can be found and there are turtles in some freshwater lakes. There are 1,500 different types of spiders but only three types are poisonous.Snakes are common in Australia. There are pythons, carpet snakes and tree snakes. Some are poisonous, like the death adder snake.