Australian Natural World Heritage Sites Quiz

Answer: Tasmanian tiger (thylacine)

The thylacine was likely to have been extinct on the Australian mainland around 2,000 years ago; however, it was still found on the island of Tasmania in small numbers. The last known thylacine died in 1930, with no confirmed sightings since then. A number of attempts have been made to try and locate signs of the thylacine in the wild but with no success to date.

Other rock art in the Kakadu National Park shows a rigged sailing ship, documenting one of the first contacts between the traditional owners, the Bininj Mungguy people and Europeans. Other art shows a buffalo hunter, probably from the 1880s.

Kakadu is classed as a mixed-site with UNESCO for both its cultural heritage and its outstanding natural beauty. It is a popular tourist destination, particularly in the 'dry' season (Australian winter months).

Answer: Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park

Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park reflects the names that the Anangu people (the traditional custodians) give the two dominant rock formations. Uluru was previously known as Ayers Rock, while Kata Tjuta ('many heads') was known as Mount Olga.

Uluru is 348 meters (around 380 yards) and is taller than the Eiffel Tower or the Chrysler Building. To walk around the rock is a distance of 9.4km or 5.8 miles, and this gives visitors the opportunity to see some of the many caves and waterholes which are located near the base. The park is home to 21 different species of mammals, including kangaroos, wallabies, a species of mole and dingoes. The thorny devil is an interesting reptile who makes the park home.

Uluru is a spiritual place for the Anangu, and some sections of the rock are off-limits for tourists. The rock art, their 30,000 year connection to the region, and their Tjukurpa (traditional stories and lore) are recognised by UNESCO under the cultural significance listing, with the geology also being recognised making this is a 'mixed' listing.

Kata-Tjuta is made up of 36 domes, and covers an area of 21.68 km2 (8.37 sq mi) and the tallest of these is approximately 546 m (1,791 ft). 'The Valley of the Winds' is a popular walk with tourists.

Answer: Humpback whales

K'gari (pronounced 'gurri') as it is known to the traditional custodians (the Butchulla or Badjala people) means paradise. The largest sand island in the world, it is about 123 kilometres (76 mi) long and 22 kilometres (14 mi) wide. It is Australia's sixth largest island and the largest island on the east coast of Australia.

K'gari was renamed from Fraser Island in 2017 at the request of the Butchalla people who first lived there around 5,000 years ago. One of their creation stories tells that Princess K'gari, a beautiful white spirit, helped with the creation of the island and asked to be allowed to remain there. To do so, she was transformed into the island, while Yedingie, a creator spirt, created the lakes, vegetation, animals and people to keep her company.

The first European known to have sighted K'gari was Captain James Cook in May 1770. The local people composed a song about this event, and this has been acknowledged as the first preserved oral testimony of first contact by the Australian First Nations people.

K'gari was listed due to its natural features including rainforests and 250 km of sandy beaches (one of which is used as an aircraft landing strip). There are also 5,000 archaeological sites identified there.

Answer: Gondwana

The Wet Tropics of Queensland include 10 national parks, amongst them, Daintree National Park. Due to the significant land mass included in this region, there are at least 20 rainforest Aboriginal groups with ongoing traditional connections to this region, among them the Kuku Yalanji people. Cathy Freeman, who lit the cauldron at the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000, is a member of the Kuku Yalanji people. Their connection to the rainforest is estimated to be around 50,000 years.

The Daintree Rainforest is one of the oldest in the world, estimated to be around 135 million years old. It contains 90% of Australia's bat and butterfly species, 30% of the frog, reptile and marsupial species and over 12,000 insect species.

Gondwana was a supercontinent which formed around 550 million years ago, and commenced breaking into smaller landmasses around 180 million years ago. During its largest period it covered around 20% of the earth's surface. Many of the earths continents today were once part of Gondwana. Laurentia, Azania and Eurasia are all former supercontinents.

Answer: Footprints

The land on which 'Mungo Man' and 'Mungo Lady' once lived is the traditional meeting place of the Muthi Muthi, Ngiyampaa and Barkinji Aboriginal peoples. They are believed to have lived here around 40,000-42,000 years ago, making this area one of the oldest known occupation sites in Australia.

Lake Mungo (now dry) is the second largest lake within the park, with both 'Mungo Man' and 'Mungo Lady' buried on the shores beneath the 'Walls of China' formations sculpted by wind and sand (shown in picture). 'Mungo Lady' is the oldest known human to have been ritually cremated.

Also found in the park were a mix of human footprints, made around 20,000 years ago by a group of people who travelled across a clay pan, during the Pleistocene era as the lakes were beginning to dry out. The footprints tell the story of a group of several adults, adolescents and children. Amongst The tracks were those of a young child, who wandered in a different direction from the main group, much like children today.

Another group, possibly hunters, may have run across the pan, with marks showing where a thrown spear missed and skidded into the ground. Also seen was a single line of right footprints, pushed heavily into the clay, showing that at least one member had potentially experienced the loss of a limb. The tracks have since been covered over by sand to help preserve them, but not before they were mapped and cast.

The Willandra Lakes are recognised as a mixed site with boat cultural and natural features included in its UNESCO listing.

Answer: Bubbles

The Greater Blue Mountains Area covers an area of 1,032,649-hectares (2,551,730-acres) and is inland from Sydney. It contains a number of national parks, including the Jenolan Caves Karst Conservation Reserve as well as the Wollemi National Park. The Blue Mountains gain their name from the eucalyptus essential oils evaporating and causing the mountains to appear blue. There are 91 different species of eucalyptus found in the park, over 10% of all known species.

Wollemi National Park is remote with narrow, steep, sandstone gorges. The traditional owners of this land are the Wiradjuri, Dharug, Wanaruah and Darkinjung people. In 1994, a group of national park employees were systematically exploring the area. One of them, David Noble, spotted an unusual tree and took samples to a colleague to see if it could be identified. It was soon realised that this was a species that had not been previously identified in the wild. Comparison with living and fossilised Araucariaceae proved that it was a member of that family.

It is thought that the Wollemi Pine was widespread but its range reduced over time. Fossils dating back 2 million years show it once grew in the area that became Tasmania. This led to its nickname of 'living fossil'.

Even today, the location of these pines (less than 100 are in the wild) is a closely kept secret. However, they are able to be propagated, with one specimen being planted in Kew Gardens, London.

Answer: Koala

The Australian Fossil Mammal Sites are located in Naracoorte and Riversleigh. The Naracoorte Caves in South Australia were formed from limestone around 1 million years ago. Over time, holes formed in the limestone and sediments fell or were washed into the holes, along with remains of animals which fell into the cave, lived in the cave or denned in the cave.

It is thought that the concealed entrances acted like pitfalls, with megafauna falling into the caves. These remains became gradually compressed by the sediments. While only a small section has been excavated, so far more than 135 different amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals have been identified. These include 20 species of megafauna including nine species of extinct kangaroos. The preservation of the fossils is exceptional, with the finest details retained. As well as bone remains, fossilised plant material, algae and pollen and DNA have been found.

Diprotodon was around the size of a white rhinoceros, making it the largest of the marsupials. It was herbivorous, like both of the species it resembles--wombats and koalas. Like modern wombats, its pouch is rear-facing, and the nose is very similar to that of modern koalas.

The Naracoorte region is the home of the Meintangk people.

Answer: Echidna

Budj Bim is the first Australian site to be added to the UNESCO World Heritage list entirely on the basis of Aboriginal cultural heritage. Budj Bim, or 'High Head' is also known as Mount Eccles, and is located within the Western Victorian Volcanic Plains. The Gunditjmara, traditional owners of the site, call the area 'Tungatt Mirring' or 'Stone Country'.

Now dormant, the last eruption is understood by the Gunditjmara to be when the Ancestral Creator revealed himself. The eruption spread lava over 50 kilometres (30 miles) west and south towards the sea. This lava dammed rivers and streams, forming wetlands and swamps, allowing the Gunditjmara people to create channels to bring water and young eels to low lying areas. They created weirs and placed woven baskets in the weirs to harvest mature eels. Having a reliable food source allowed semi-permanent settlements, as well as supporting large-scale ceremonial events and trade.

Kurtonitj (meaning 'crossing place'), a site within the national park is sacred to the Gunditjmara people. The site contains historical stone kooyang (eel) traps and stone channels, stone house sites and eel smoking trees.

Answer: Walls of Jerusalem National Park

Tasmania is believed to have separated from Mainland Australia around 14,000 years ago, with First Nations presence dating back to the Pleistocene era 35,000 years ago. Middens and artwork along with human remains have been found supporting this dating.

The Tasmanian Wilderness Area has met the requirements for 7 out of the 10 classification criteria needed for World Heritage, the highest measurement met so far, equal to Mount Tai in China. It is classed as a mixed site, the significant heritage of the Palawa people being recognised along with the areas of outstanding beauty.

The Walls of Jerusalem National Park is remote, and in the alpine region of Tasmania. The name comes from the geology of the area, said to resemble the walls around the city of Jerusalem. The biblical theme is seen in other place names including such Herod's Gate, Lake Salome, Solomon's Jewels, Damascus Gate, the Pool of Bethesda, King David's and Solomon's Temple.

The park also has a wide range of wildlife including wombats, wallabies, devils, echidnas, native rats, platypus, frogs and burrowing crayfish. According to local legend, a prophet roams the wilderness, cursing the nations of the walkers who enter the park.

The Gondwana landscape meant that it was ideal for filming scenes for the second episode of the BBC documentary series 'Walking with Dinosaurs'.

Answer: Beehive

The Bungle Bungle Range is in the remote Kimberley region of Western Australia and the traditional lands of the
Karjaganujaru people. Their name for the Bungle Bungle is Billingjal, which means sand falling away. The ranges are formed from sandstone, with the unique striping coming from a crust of cyanobacteria (single-celled organisms) and iron oxide. The formations are caused by weathering from wind and rain gradually eroding the surfaces.

The remoteness of the location helped to protect the Bungle Bungle area, with a 1983 documentary, 'Wonders of WA', bringing the region to public attention. Helen Daniels, a character from 'Neighbours', visited the region on a painting tour.

The area contains rock art, engravings and ochre, some of which can be visited with local tour guides. Within the Kimberley region are examples of the oldest known rock art in the world. Amongst the mix of domes there are caves and small oases, including 'Cathedral Gorge' and 'Echidna Chasm' which is 180 metres (196 yards) high and narrows dramatically.