Wildlife of Australasia
Where to Find Aussie Wildlife
Red Kangaroo
Red kangaroos live throughout most of the central part of mainland Australia, in areas with less than 500 mm (18 in) average annual rainfall. They prefer open plains habitat, including grasslands and deserts, as long as there are at least a few scattered trees for shelter.
Grey Kangaroo
The Eastern Grey Kangaroo is found in eastern Australia from Tasmania to Cape York Peninsula. In Victoria, they are widespread in the southern and eastern regions.
Koala
Koalas today are found in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. Their range extends from the Atherton Tableland west of Cairns in Queensland to islands off the coast of Victoria and South Australia in the south, and west to central and western Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. Populations are fragmented throughout this range and many populations are seriously at risk. Along the eastern coast, Koalas are most abundant on the central and north coast of New South Wales and the south east corner of Queensland. These areas have rapidly expanding urban centres which threaten habitat occupied by Koalas. Local extinctions are occurring,
In South Australia (where Koalas were hunted to extinction) and Victoria (where Koalas were nearly hunted to extinction), authorities have relocated animals from islands to repopulate these states. Koala numbers have increased, but human interference has caused new problems such as inbreeding and overpopulation in some areas.
Tree Kangaroo
Meet the tree kangaroo. Uniquely adapted to arboreal life, tree kangaroos have strong, muscular forelimbs and a long tail, making them expert climbers.
Australia’s two different species of tree kangaroos are found in Tropical North Queensland. Lumholtz's tree kangaroo lives mainly in the lush rainforests around the Atherton Tablelands, and the rare and larger Bennett’s tree kangaroo lives between Cooktown and the Daintree River. Look for their long black tails dangling from the canopy.
Spotted Tail Quoll
Tasmania is home to one of Australia's most elusive predators—the spotted-tailed quoll, also known as the tiger quoll. Resembling a mix between a cat and a raccoon, only with big white spots, these nocturnal, carnivorous marsupials are top-notch hunters.
Australia hosts six species of quolls, but the best place to see the spotted-tailed variety is in Tasmania’s cool temperate rainforests and coastal scrub along the northern and western coasts, including Arthur-Pieman Conservation Area, Central Plateau Conservation Area and Narawntapu National Park.
Bilby
The sweet bilby reigns as the desert's digging dynamo. With its rabbit-like ears and slender snout, these endearing marsupials have an important job: They burrow deep in the desert soil looking for ants and simultaneously dispersing seeds.
Bilbies were once common throughout the arid and semi-arid regions of the Australian mainland, but their populations have dwindled due to cats, foxes and rabbits. Today, they are only found in patchy areas, including the Tanami and Great Sandy Deserts and south-western Queensland.
Numbat
The sweet, shy little numbat has an unlikely relative: they’re actually related to tigers — Tasmanian tigers! Once, numbats roamed across much of southern Australia, from the west coast to Victoria and New South Wales. Today, they’re endangered, with fewar than 1,000 left in the wild. But the good news is that rewilding projects are helping boost populations.
If you’re lucky, you can still see these banded beauties in their natural habitat. Head to Dryandra Woodland and Tone/Perup Nature Reserve in Western Australia, where the best place to look is around hollow logs in powderbark or jarrah forest.
Platypus
Equipped with a duck-like bill and webbed feet, the platypus is also a monotreme. They are found in eastern Australia, particularly in freshwater rivers and streams.
Sugar glider
Able to fly more than 45 metres from tree to tree, these nocturnal gliding marsupials are found throughout Australia's eastern regions.
Echidna
Often called spiny anteaters, these monotremes (egg-laying mammals) live in various habitats across Australia, from woodlands to deserts.
Cassowary
Topping out at up to 1.8 metres tall, the shy, flightless cassowary resides in the rainforests of northern Queensland.
Tasmanian Devil
As the name suggests, you'll find these feisty marsupials on their namesake island.
Quokka
Often dubbed the world's happiest animals due to their perpetual grinning expressions, quokkas are best spotted on WA’s Rottnest Island.
The superb lyrebird truly lives up to its name. Known for its remarkable ability to mimic natural and artificial sounds, lyrebirds are the maestros of the forest.
Superb lyrebirds inhabit the woodlands of Southeast Australia and southern Tasmania. A popular place to see these extraordinary birds is Sherbrooke Forest in Victoria's Dandenong Ranges. Listen for their extraordinary vocal performances, and if you’re lucky, you might also witness the male’s impressive lyre-shaped tail feathers fanning out during its mating ritual.
Pademelon
Resembling a pint-sized wallaby, the cute-as-pie pademelon is a herbivorous marsupial found in the lush rainforests and woodlands of eastern Australia.
Pademelons are widespread across Tasmania and easy to see. You can also see them in Lamington National Park in Queensland and on the subtropical rainforest walk at Mary Cairncross Scenic Reserve in South East Queensland. As you wander the forest trails, look for them silently grazing in the underbrush.
North Queensland Great Barrier Reef. Daintree Atherton Table lands Tree Kangaroo, Whales in dry winter, Turtles in summer.
Tasmania. Quolls, Devils and Wombats. Whales in winter, Best weather in summer.
Sunshine Coast. Koalas , Whales in winter , Turtles in summer, all year good weather.
Western Australia. Whale sharks Ningaloo March-July, Blue whales April Perth travelling north. Braemar Canyon all year
Portland Victoria. Blue whales Nov-March. , Right whales June-Oct. Koalas.
New Zealand. Kiwi Birds Tauturo , Whales in Winter, best weather in summer Kiwi birds.
West Papua. Tree Kangaroo, Quoll, Echidna,Birds of Paradise . Whale sharks all year, Blue whales May to October, Leatherback turtles year round, Birds of Paradise, windy in June-Aug , rainy in Nov-Feb.