Hanson Bay Wildlife Sanctuary

Location: Karatta, Australia
Address:  Hanson Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, South Coast Road
Date: May 2012
Website:  www.hansonbay.com.au

  One place we just had to visit while on Kangaroo Island was the Hanson Bay Wildlife Sanctuary.  The sanctuary is home to a koala colony and other Australian wildlife.  When we first entered the sanctuary we spotted a short beaked echidna digging in the grass.  Once we had paid our admission fee we headed off towards Koala Walk.

  As we entered the rows of eucalyptus trees we were greeted by a group of galahs.  Galahs are also known as rose breasted cockatoos.  They are a beautiful grey and pink with a lighter coloured forehead.  They look a bit like someone has pulled a pink turtleneck up over their nose.  Galahs can be found all across Australia and have become as common as pigeons are to other parts of the world.

  Speaking of beautiful birds, we also spotted some crimson rosellas.  Crimson Rosellas are a type of parrot that is blue and red.  The ones found on Kangaroo Island are the largest in all of Australia.  Rosellas are usually found in mating pairs like the two we photographed below.

  After admiring the birds we looked up into the trees.  Looking back at us was one of the resident koalas.

  The koalas at Hanson Bay are a wild group that is free to leave at any time.  Any one of them could have easily followed us to our car and out along the driveway to explore the rest of the island. 

  Koalas are a close relative of the wombat.  They are both marsupials and both have backwards facing pouches.  Wombat pouches face backwards to keep them from filling with dirt.  Koala pouches face that way since the babies eat a substance called pap from their mother's butt.  Anyway, wombats prefer digging in the ground while koalas spend most of their day sleeping high up in the eucalyptus trees.  Despite their pouches facing in opposite directions both koala babies and kangaroo babies are called joeys.

    We had a great time spotting koalas up in the trees.  When our necks were sore it was time to look down again.  Much to our delight there was more to explore at ground level.

  Sitting underneath a branch is what we believe was a tammar wallaby.  These are the smallest of all the wallabies and are quite common on Kangaroo Island.

  Another macropod we spotted was the Kangaroo Island kangaroo.  It is similar to the western grey kangaroo but is more chocolate coloured and much stockier.  Macropod means large feet in Greek.  We also had to move our feet as the afternoon was almost over.  Hanson Bay Wildlife Sanctuary is on the western end of Kangaroo Island near Flinders Chase National Park and we had to drive all the way to Penneshaw at the eastern end.  Anybody need a ride?

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Map of Our World
Hanson Bay Wildlife Sanctuary

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Post # 119

Short Beaked Echidna

Location: Karatta, Australia
Address:  Hanson Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, South Coast Road
Date: May 2012
Website:  www.hansonbay.com.au

  Most people are aware that Australia is home to some of the most unusual and unique animals on the planet.  When we visited Kangaroo Island we had a private encounter with a monotreme.  We had come to the Hanson Bay Wildlife Sanctuary to see their resident koalas, but as we drove up their driveway we noticed a little brown creature shuffling across the field.  We parked the car and headed across the field for a closer look.

 To our delight it was an echidna digging in the grass.  In Greek mythology, Echidna was half woman and half snake.  Echidnas are mammals yet they lay eggs like a reptile so this name is fitting.  The proper word for an egg laying mammal is montreme.  There are only 2 montremes, the echidna and the platypus.  There are four types of echidna, but our encounter was with a short beaked echidna.

  The echidna continued to go about its business and paid us no mind.  The echidna is similar to an anteater because it digs in the ground and sticks its beak into the hole and then uses its tongue to slurp up ants and other insects.

  The echidna also has spines covering its back much like a porcupine.  If threatened it will curl up into a ball like a hedgehog to protect itself.  We don't believe these spines are designed to stick into an attacker like a porcupine's quills but we think it would still be a mistake to mess with them.

   We observed the echidna while it enjoyed its lunch.  It is yet another Australian creature that seems to be made up of several different animals.  While Australia is home to some of the deadliest animals on earth, it also has many, like our little spiny friend, that are some of the cutest.  Speaking of cute Australian animals, we had to get going as there were trees full of koalas waiting for us on the other side of the sanctuary.

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Map of Our World
Hanson Bay Wildlife Sanctuary (Short Beaked Echidna)

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Post # 118