Australian Animals for Kids Trivia Quiz

Answer: Wombat

Wombats are short, fat marsupials that are about three feet long. They look as though they have no tail, but in fact each has a short stubby one. A marsupial is an animal that carries its baby in its pouch. Wombats have pouches that face towards the rear of their bodies.

The reason for this is that these animals like to dig burrows. With a backward facing pouch, this means that they don't flick dirt all over their babies when digging. Their favourite foods are grass, bark and roots. I think this wombat should be called Wobbles.

Answer: Emu

An emu is the second largest bird in the world. The biggest bird is the African ostrich. Emus grow to be around six feet tall. That's taller than an average man. They can't fly but they can run like the wind. However, they prefer to just trot along like a jogger. Emus defend themselves with mighty kicks. You don't want to ever be kicked by an emu.

It hurts. After the female has laid its eggs, the father bird sits on them until they hatch. The mother goes out with other emus during this time and mates again, leaving him to do all the work.

He is also the one who rears the small birds when they're tiny, defends them, and teaches them how to find food. So he's a pretty good dad, isn't he? I think we should name these three emus Dorothy, Daphne and Delma Drumstick. Why all girls? Because their mates are probably back home looking after the kids.

Answer: Goanna

Goannas are very large lizards which grow up to eight feet long. They give me the creeps. They're so big that they even attack and eat sheep and small kangaroos. Their favourite food though is rotting flesh. Ugh. When attacked, they rear up in the air and hiss at you.

They're quite horrible creatures. I was chased by one once. This is the scariest part about them: If you get in the way of them when they are running away from something, they will climb right over the top of you, because to them you look like a tree.

They can give you really serious bites and rip you with their very sharp claws. We'll call this brute Gerald the Gobbler.

Answer: Dingo

In fact, the dingo, which looks exactly like a dog, doesn't make much noise at all. It hardly even barks, but tends to communicate with funny little sounds like squeaks and whimpers and coughs. Dingoes descended from wild wolves thousands of years ago.

They're predators in that they prey on other animals for food, but they make good parents when they mate, and the entire pack helps with the rearing of the pups. This dingo looks quite plump and healthy, but mostly the poor creatures are thin and half-starved looking. Because sheep are one of their favourite dinners, farmers consider them great pests and hunt them relentlessly.

It all seems a bit sad really. Let's call this fellow Barkley - because he hardley ever does.

Answer: Bandicoot

Bandicoots are shy little animals, about twenty inches long, that are hardly ever seen by humans. They are often mistaken for rats, but are not at all like them. Instead, like many of our native animals, they are marsupials and carry their young in their pouch. Once they were seen everywhere throughout Australia, but, sadly, these appearances are now becoming less and less. Partly this is because they are nocturnal little creatures, but mostly it's because mankind is moving more and more into areas where it once lived in great numbers.

It is now considered an endangered species. Let's call this little one Betty Bandicoot and hope she has lots of babies.

Answer: Spotted quoll

The quoll is another of our marsupials that is seldom seen during daylight hours. Isn't it cute? It's noted for its spotted fur. The unusual thing about quolls is that they come in many different sizes. Some are as small as ten ounces, while others can be sixteen pounds or more. Once again this is a small animal that is in danger of becoming extinct in most areas of Australia. Only the state of Tasmania still has them in relatively high numbers. We need to work harder to protect and preserve our precious native animals. I think this quoll looks a bit annoyed, so we'll call him Quentin Crosspatch.

Answer: Tasmanian devil

The Tasmanian devil is another animal that is now found only in the state of Tasmania. It has become extinct in all other areas of Australia. This is a feisty animal about the size of a dog. It is known for several unusual features. One is that it is a carnivore as well as a marsupial, the other is for the loud screeching sound it makes, and a third is that it pongs. That means it has a very strong smell.

It also has extremely strong jaws, the strongest of any land mammal, so stay out of its way.

When two males devils fight, it's been described as looking a bit like sumo wrestlers trying to knock each other down. I'm not sure who's been insulted the most with that description. They also bite each other on the backside. The animal, I mean, not the wrestler. Let's call this crankly little one Growly.

Answer: Echidna

Isn't it cute? An echidna is known as a spiny anteater as well. This little animal is also a mammal, but amazingly so, it lays eggs instead of giving birth to live young. Only one other mammal in the world does this. Its favourite meal of course, because of its name, is a feast of ants or termites. Echidnas are covered with very thick hairs, known as spines, and, you won't believe this, it's amazing, but some even have spines growing on their tongues as well.

This enables it to really trap those insects for dinner. If you ever seen a line of echidnas in a row of ten or so, the front one is a female.

The others are males all trying to get her to go out with them. Baby echidnas are called puggles. I think this echidna should be named Spike.

Answer: Sugar glider

The sugar glider is a very small mammal that has the ability to glide through the air for short distances in the same way as a flying squirrel. They're a night time creature, so we're lucky whenever we get a chance to see any. Their favourite snacks are small insects and the sweet tasting sap produced from gum trees.

Their little bodies are only about half a ruler in length, and very fragile and delicate, and they're now considered an endangered species in this country. How sad it is to read about endangered species, don't you think? We should all do our best to protect them.

The male sugar glider, just like a human male, sometimes goes bald, which is just a tiny bit funny. Can you imagine one wearing a wig? This one looks like she should be called Honey.

Answer: Platypus

The first time people back in Europe saw a platypus, they thought that Australians were pulling a trick on them. This is because not only does it lays eggs instead of giving birth to live babies, it has feet like an otter, a tail like a beaver, and a bill like a duck.

This is the second of the other two mammals in the world that lay eggs, the other of course being the echidna. A platypus finds its food, not by looking, but by detecting tiny electrical signals in the air that their prey emit. This is known as electroreception.

They're quite an amazing little animal, aren't they? I think we should call this one Ducky because of its beak.