Australia’s wildlife is unique. Isolation has given the continent some of the world’s most unusual animals — the kangaroo, the platypus, and the koala to name just three. Add to that abundant birdlife, reptiles, and marine life and you’ve got more than enough to keep the most avid wildlife watchers happy.
- You’ll see more native animals on South Australia’s Kangaroo Island — including koalas, wallabies, birds, echidnas, reptiles, seals, and sea lions — than anywhere else in the country, apart from a wildlife park. And the distances between major points of interest are not great, so you won’t spend half the day just getting from place to place.
- If cuddling a koala is high on your list, head to Brisbane’s Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. This is the world’s first and largest koala sanctuary. Along with 130 koalas, lots of other Aussie wildlife — including wombats, Tasmanian devils, ’roos (which you can handfeed), and colorful parakeets — are on show. You can even have your photo taken with a koala in your arms.
- Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory is home to onethird of Australia’s bird species. It’s also the favored habitat of lots of saltwater crocodiles, which you can see on a cruise on the Yellow Water Billabong.
- Head into Queensland’s World Heritage–listed Wet Tropics Rainforest behind Cairns or Port Douglas with Wait-a-While Rainforest Tours to spotlight possums, lizards, pythons, or even the shy and elusive platypus. Groups regularly spot the rare, bizarre Lumholtz’s tree kangaroo.
