The box jellyfish. It’s lethal¹ and beautiful at the same time. It looks relatively harmless², but it can kill a healthy human within 2 -5 minutes.

Another dangerous creature, the blue-ring octopus, is the subject of regular warnings to young Australian children, as again, like the jellyfish, it is supremely beautiful. It can camouflage itself³, and adapt to its surroundings. But it is also deadly and best avoided.

The common rabbit⁴ – accidently introduced in 1859, has wiped out one of the cutest creatures you will ever find, the bilby, from the rodent⁵ family.

One thing that is unique to the Southern Hemisphere, and Australia in particular, is the presence of marsupials⁶. The bilby is from this family, as is the koala, the kangaroo, possums⁷, bandicoots⁸ and many others. The key defining characteristic of a marsupial is that it carries its young in a small pouch⁹. The baby is then safe and easily transported.

My absolute favorite is the thorny devil. They can camouflage themselves with their surroundings and have extremely tough natural armor¹⁰ protecting them.

But one of the most important defense mechanisms is that it can make an opponent think its head is actually on the other side of its body. This false head can move independently and deter¹¹ attackers. Despite all this armor, they only eat ants¹². They also live in some of the harshest¹³ conditions in Australia.

Perhaps better known, the dingo is often considered to be an original species of Australia, but they were introduced about 4000 years ago.

They roam freely¹⁴ across Australia in search of food, which mostly consists of native animals, but also livestock¹⁵. Overall, Australia has a diverse range of creatures that keep the ecosystem of Australia going. We have cute, deadly, and endangered species all in one.

Bryan Harrell

Vocabulary: 1smrtonosný; 2neškodný; 3/kæm∂fla:ž/ zamaskovať sa – zamaskovat se; 4králik; 5/roudnt/ hlodavec; 6vačnatec; 7vačica – vačice; 8bandukut, druh krysy; 9/pauč/ vak; 10pancier – pancíř; 11/dit∂:r/ odstrašiť – odstrašit; 12/ænt/ mravec – mravenec; 13najdrsnejšie – nejdrsnější; 14potulovať sa volne – potulovat se volně; 15hospodárske zvieratá – hospodářska zvířata