WEIRD AND WONDERFUL WILDLIFE

The island continent is blessed with a wealth of critters and creatures that can’t be found anywhere else.

Amazing critters and creatures and where to see them

The best thing about Australia’s wildlife is that it’s seriously unique – and it’s everywhere. You may not see kangaroos hopping down city streets (actually they do on the odd occasion) but you don’t have to step too far into the wild to see some of these totally individual creatures.

Due to its relative isolation, much of Australia’s wildlife is endemic, and while most of the world has only placental mammals, it also has marsupials, mammals that nurture their young in a pouch. It’s also got some of the world’s weirdest wildlife, like monotremes: the egg-laying, ant-eating echidna and the platypus – a venomous, egg-laying, duck-billed amphibious mammal – which is acknowledged as one of the strangest creatures in the animal kingdom.

Many of Australia’s wildlife icons are found throughout the country, while others are more elusive. Here’s a guide to the best places to see some of its most popular and iconic wildlife.

KANGAROOS While you can see kangaroos in most parts of Australia – especially exploring the country’s regional areas – there are a few well-known, handy aggregation points. They are particularly easy to spot on (something in KANGAROO ISLAND the name!) and on the of WALES; NORTH COAST NEW SOUTH you’ll almost trip over large groups of kangaroos at LOOK in Coffs Harbour. Touring the AT ME NOW HEADLAND BLUE MOUNTAINS, an hour from Sydney, you’ll see large groups gathered together in the early morning, and for the thrill of seeing them hopping across an outback landscape head to South Australia’s RANGES. You can even see them FLINDERS laying on the beach at Western Australia’s BAY.LUCKY

WOMBATS Wombats are largely cold climate creatures. You’ll often spot them after dark (they are nocturnal) in the New South Wales HIGHLANDS, a 90-minute drive SOUTHERN from Sydney, and the MOUNTAINS. SNOWY In Tasmania, you’ll see them on the CRADLE and walks. A tellMOUNTAIN MARIA ISLAND tale indicator that wombats are close? They leave behind cube-shaped poop!

EMUS Emus are more of an outback creature, and you will often see them running alongside you as you drive through outback WALES, , NEW SOUTH VICTORIA and theSOUTH AUSTRALIA NORTHERN TERRITORY. They are especially common in the RANGES, not far from FLINDERSSouth Australia’s wine country in the and VALLEY.ADELAIDE HILLS CLARE

QUOKKAS Until these cute little marsupials became Instagram superstars, hardly anyone outside Western Australia had heard of ISLAND. A ROTTNEST short ferry ride from the capital city of Perth, this holiday resort island has a large, relatively tame (and photogenic) population. Just be sure not to handle the animals; take photos responsibly with the smiling quokkas in the background. DINGOES Australia’s largest carnivorous mammal can be found throughout Australia (with the exception of Tasmania), and one of the best places to see them is on Queensland’s ISLAND, where they FRASER wander freely along the wide beaches. Because of their relative isolation and protected status there, Fraser Island dingoes are said to be the most genetically pure.

KOALAS Though koalas are present throughout Australia, one of the best places to see them is in the south-east of the country in Victoria’s Gippsland region. ECHIDNA WALKABOUT NATURE TOURS (echidnawalkabout.com.au) offer oneday and multi-day trips in GIPPSLAND and along the GREAT OCEAN ROAD, with guaranteed sightings of koalas. Sightings are also pretty much a given on Queensland’sMAGNETIC ISLAND (there are around 800 koalas in residence) and on South Australia’s ISLAND, where 18 koalas KANGAROO were introduced in the 1920s to safeguard against extinction; today the population numbers some 27,000.

TASMANIAN DEVILS You can swap the cuddly koala for a little (Tassie) devil, and see some of Australia’s rarest species, by taking a trip toMARIA ISLAND, often described as Tasmania’s Noah’s Ark. The island sanctuary is a great place to observe Tasmanian devils, along with Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary in BRIGHTON, Devils@Cradle,CRADLE MOUNTAIN, and the Tasmanian Devil Experience at the luxurious SAFFIRE on the east coast. FREYCINET

PLATYPUS The platypus is quite shy, therefore not particularly easy to spot in the wild. One of the easiest places to see them is in the Blue Lake at in the JENOLAN CAVES BLUE MOUNTAINS, a three hour drive from Sydney. You can also spot them in Lake Elizabeth in the Great Otway National Park, Victoria, and Tasmania’s Warrawee Forest Reserve, the “platypus capital of the world”.