Wings Wildlife Park

 One of my goals on this cruise was to see the wildlife native to these two countries. A trip to Wings Wildlife Farm helped to meet that goal. (Eden, Tasmania)

We only had an hour to see the many animals housed in the park, so we did not see everything. And not all the animals were native to Australia (& Tasmania) or New Zealand. 

Echidna

about the size of a football, native to Australia

known as spiny anteaters, related to the platypus

both animals are monotremes or egg laying mammals

Meerkats

omnivores living in mobs, clans, or gangs of 20-30 in the wild in the desert of southern Africa

Common Marmoset

active tree inhibitors of the rainforests in Brazil, also omnivores

Tasmanian Devil

only surviving carnivore marsupial

has a keen sense of smell and a pungent odor

nocturnal hunter with powerful jaws to tear meat and crush bones

once inhabited Australia, now only found in Tasmania

I read they got their name from early European settlers who saw the red ears of the animal and heard the disturbing screech at night while sitting around camp fires calling them Tasmanian Devil.

Wombat

largest burrowing mammal, related to the koala

an herbivore and a marsupial, also nocturnal & native to Tasmania

Bennetts Wallaby

based on their coloring and white strip on the lip, wallaby and not grey kangaroo

native to Australia and New Zealand, eating herbs and grasses in late afternoon and at dusk

lunch time

Southern Brown Bandicoot

native to Australia and Tasmania 

nocturnal omnivore about the size of a house cat

Eastern Quoll

extinct in Australia, but common in Tasmania

size of a house cat, nocturnal carnivore

Koala

native to Australia, another nocturnal marsupial

sleep 18-20 hours a day because it takes a lot of energy to digest

their fibrous, low nutrition diet of leaves

 have 5 digits on their paws

Capybara

semi-aquatic rodent native to South America

carnivores, eating their own feces because the grasses are hard to digest,

but full of protein

Naked Neck Chicken

why it was on display in an incubator at Wings Park, I do not know

I included it because I had not ever heard of the Transylvania

Naked Neck Chicken or Turken

they are common in South America

Laughing Kookaburra

native to Australia and introduced to Tasmania

largest member of the Kingfisher family

carnivores

Are you singing the song yet?

Kookaburra sits in the ol' gum tree...

leaving Wings Wildlife Park