Australasian wildlife

The Australasian ecoregion consists of Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea, Melanesia, and the eastern parts of Indonesia. The outer islands of Oceania make up a different region. In Indonesia, the region borders the Indomalayan region.

The region, especially Australia, is known for its unusual wildlife.

Animals
"An unbeliever in everything beyond his own reason might exclaim 'Surely two distinct Creators must have been [at] work.'"

- Charles Darwin's diary

Mammals
There are three main categories of mammals in the world, with different reproductive cycles. Placentals, the largest group, which include humans, have a long gestation period. The only terrestrial placentals that were in Australasia before human arrival are bats and rodents. Instead, Australia is home to the marsupials and the egg-laying monotremes. These are not native to New Zealand.

In marsupials, the embryo leaves the mother's uterus, and crawls into the pouch to continue growth. While marsupials are also extant in the Americas, they are incredibly diverse in Australia, occupying ecological niches of placental mammals on other continents. The common explanation for this diversity in Australia combined with the relative dominance of placental mammals elsewhere is the geographic isolation of Australia that kept most placental mammals away; the fossil record in South America shows a similar diversity of marsupials until a connection with North America was established, leading to placental mammals taking over.

Marsupials
Kangaroos are a non-taxonomic category of marsupials standing upright on strong hind legs; smaller kangaroos are called wallabies, and even smaller ones are called pademelons. The red kangaroo, Macropus rufus, is the largest marsupial, and an iconic species (there were even bigger marsupials until the arrival of Man, e.g.Diprotodon the size of a hippopotamus). Tree-kangaroos, which are found in New Guinea and northern Queensland are small kangaroo-like marsupials that lives in trees. Unlike other kangaroos, tree-kangaroos can move their hind legs independently of each other, thus allowing them to climb trees. While they are very agile in trees, they are very slow on the ground and can only hop awkwardly.

The koala, Phascolarctos cinereus, is a tree-living bear-like marsupial. They are only found on the East Coast + South Australia, but due to excessive deforestation, logging, and the 2019-20 bushfires, koala numbers are only at 5% of what they were in 1788, and their habitats continue to be threatened by development. The bandicoot is a small marsupial that looks similar to rats.

The largest extant carnivorous marsupial is the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii), which is highly endangered and, as the name suggests, only survives in the wild on the island of Tasmania. The greatest threat to the devil today is a transmissible cancer known as devil facial tumour disease, which killed an estimated 95% of the wild devil population between its first detection in 1996 and 2015. A few devils have been found to be resistant to the disease, and conservation efforts have included shipping many disease-free devils to the Aussie Ark sanctuary in the Barrington Tops of northern New South Wales, where those devils' descendants are kept under mostly wild conditions in an enormous fenced area.

Tasmania was also previously home to a larger carnivorous marsupial known as the thylacine, also known as the Tasmanian tiger or Tasmanian wolf, though it was hunted to extinction by the 1930s. Both carnivorous marsupials formerly inhabited the Australian mainland, though they were driven to extinction with the introduction of dingoes from Asia by the Aboriginal people.



Quokkas, Setonix brachyurus, are a marsupial that looks like a small, chubby kangaroo with a cute face. In the 2010s they have become known online as the "world's happiest animal" due to their cute, cheerful appearance. Quokkas are only found in the wild in Rottnest Island off the coast of Perth, Western Australia. At Rottnest Island they are very common and willing to approach humans, and "quokka selfies" are an online craze, but it's forbidden by law to touch a quokka. In captivity, quokkas can be found at a number of zoos throughout Australia.

Wombats are short-legged, furry marsupials that look a bit like very large rodents. They're found in a variety of habitats in southern and eastern Australia, including Tasmania.

Monotremes
Monotremes are an order of mammals sometimes described as the "missing link" between mammals and reptiles. They are only found in Australasia, and include the platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) and four species of echidnas. Monotremes differ from other mammals in quite a few respects, with two most notable. The term "monotreme" derives from the Greek word for "single opening", reflecting that all monotremes have a single opening for their urinary, defecatory, and reproductive systems. As noted previously, they also lay eggs instead of bearing live young.

Invasive animals
Some invasive animals in Australia are the dromedary, the dingo (a feral dog), the rabbit, and the cane toad.

The dromedary (Camelus dromedarius) is the familiar one-humped camel. Native to desert regions of North Africa, the Middle East, and western and central Asia, it has been domesticated for roughly 4,000 years, and has not naturally occurred in the wild for at least 2,000 years. However, central Australia is home to the only population of dromedaries that exhibits wild behaviour. During the 19th-century European colonisation of central Australia, dromedaries were brought to serve as working animals. With the advent of motorised transport in the 1920s and 1930s, many of them were released into the wild, and their descendants have spread throughout the centre of the country. While dromedaries have not been as damaging to the environment as some other introduced pests, they have still negatively impacted many arid and semi-arid areas, and authorities have engaged in culling programs for the last several decades. At the same time, a small but growing livestock industry has developed around the dromedary, with even some Aboriginal groups active in it.

The dingo (Canis lupus dingo or Canis dingo) is a feral dog that has lived in Australia for at least 3,500 years, and more likely 8,000 or more years. It came from Southeast Asia, either by itself or with humans. It is believed to have led to the extinction of the thylacine (which remained extant in Tasmania until the 1930s) on mainland Australia by out-competing them for prey. It is usually seen as a part of Australian native wildlife, as it was present before European contact. The dingo is a significant predator of domestic sheep, and less so for cattle, but also preys upon many invasive species such as rabbits, red foxes, feral goats, and feral pigs, as well as native animals. However, dingoes are less likely to seek out livestock when sufficient wild or feral prey is available. The biggest threat to dingo populations today is hybridisation with domestic dogs, which has been widespread.

The European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) was introduced to Australia with the First Fleet (the original British settlers in 1788) and quickly spread throughout the country. Rabbits have had a devastating effect on the Australian ecology through overgrazing, in turn causing severe erosion of affected areas. Efforts to control them have had mixed success.

The cane toad (Rhinella marina), the world's largest toad, is native to South America and mainland Central America, but has been introduced to many areas in the Caribbean and Pacific as a means of agricultural pest control. In the 1930s, native beetles were major pests of sugarcane plantations in northern Queensland. Because cane toads had been successfully used in pest control in other parts of the world, they were first introduced from Hawaii in 1935, with other releases in the following years. Unfortunately, they were not as effective in pest control in Australia as in other regions, and have since spread throughout the wetter areas of Queensland and the Northern Territory, and even into northern New South Wales and Western Australia. Cane toads have no natural predators in Australia, and their main defense mechanism is poison glands on their back; the tadpoles are also toxic to most predators. Most native Australian predators are vulnerable to cane toad toxin, and their numbers have greatly declined in cane toad-infested areas.

Marine life
Australian waters have vibrant populations of whales and dolphins, while the southern waters are also known for being a habitat for the Great White Shark, with the town of Port Lincoln in South Australia being the starting point of many cage diving expeditions to see them. The southern waters of Australia are home to the Australian sea lion (Neophoca cinerea), while the New Zealand fur seal (Arctocephalus forsteri) inhabits the southern parts of both Australia and New Zealand.

The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef, while the Ningaloo Reef off the northern coast of Western Australia is another very large reef largely unspoilt by tourism compared to the Great Barrier Reef. The waters off the coast of South Australia are home to the leafy sea dragon (Phycodurus eques), a seahorse which looks very much like a seaweed, thus allowing it to camouflage well and making it difficult to spot.

Birds


The emu, Dromaius novaehollandiae, is the world's second-largest bird behind the ostrich, and one of the animals on Australia's coat-of-arms. Another large, flightless bird that can be found in the tropical rainforests of northern Australia and New Guinea is the cassowary, which though very aggressive and dangerous, is also endangered, thus making it highly unlikely that you will run into one. Both Australia and New Zealand are home to the little penguin, also known in Australia as the fairy penguin (Eudyptula minor), the world's smallest species of penguin, which can be found in places like Phillip Island, Victoria, Victor Harbor, South Australia or Penguin, Bicheno and Bruny Island, Tasmania.

Australia is also home to several species of parrots, including the sulphur-crested cockatoo (Cacatua galerita) and the rainbow lorikeet (Trichoglossus moluccanus). They are comfortable in areas inhabited by humans and can often be seen in towns and parks.

New Zealand's national bird is a small flightless bird known as the kiwi; although you are unlikely to casually see a kiwi in the wild, there are several sancturies and organised nightime walks which give a good chance of seeing one. Other flightless birds are the colourful takahē and the more common weka; the green flightless parrot, the kākāpō is so rare that the remaining birds are on islands which are closed to visitors. Several species of penguin can be seen in coastal habitats mainly on the South Island and Stewart Island.

There is a wide selection of flying forest and sea birds, several of which are unique to New Zealand. In rural areas the "dawn chorus" of birdsong can make a great start to the day - this may include songs of the tui and bellbird. The kea is a green parrot found in South Island mountain areas.

Destinations
While many species are spread across the land (or the ocean), some national parks and other places stand out for their beauty and diversity of species.

Stay safe
"See, there's a reason Australia is a water-locked continent: Geography is trying to protect you."

- Cracked.com

Australia and the island of New Guinea are infamous for its venomous and man-eating animals, and is home to more poisonous species than any other continent. Visitors to cities are unlikely to encounter these, and most animal-inflicted injuries come from mundane pests, such as bees and wasps, as well as horse riding. In the sea, jellyfish are the most prevalent danger; while sharks and crocodiles prey on people, they are only active in a few geographic areas. This is generally not a problem in NZ.

Animal collisions with kangaroos and other animals are a danger in the outback.