Many animals aren't native to Australia, with common examples being the rabbit, feral cat, fox, cane toad, and camels, all introduced by humans and often becoming significant pests that harm native ecosystems, while even animals like the dingo, though present for thousands of years, are technically introduced.
Australia has no native mammals with hooves, but we now have the world's largest populations of invasive sambar deer, water buffalo, camels, horses, goats and banteng.
The dingo is Australia's first introduced species, but its history has been uncertain until recently. While the dingo is an introduced species, it has been in Australia long enough to become a functional part of the natural ecological system as a top-order predator.
Two animals that are considered extremely invasive in Australia are cane toads and European red foxes. Cane toads are an ironic example of a species being introduced to control another pest.
The kangaroo, Australia's most dangerous animal
Fortunately, the chance that you will come into contact with one of the above animals is small. When driving at night in very remote areas, a kangaroo may appear in front of your car from out of the bush.
In 1932, Australia went to war against 20,000 emus. And lost. Learn more about how this surreal military campaign started, and how the emus won just by being emus at the link in bio.
Dingoes are Australia's only wild canid and play an important role as an apex predator, keeping natural systems in balance. Dingoes descend from Asian canids and were introduced to Australia, probably by seafarers, thousands of years ago.
Australia's primary terrestrial apex predator is the dingo, a wild canine crucial for balancing ecosystems by controlling herbivores like kangaroos and invasive species like foxes and cats, while significant marine apex predators include the saltwater crocodile and the Australian sea lion, alongside birds like the wedge-tailed eagle in aerial niches.
Dingoes have a weight range of 22-33 pounds and a height of 20-24 inches, whereas coyotes have a weight range of 15-47 pounds and a height of 22-26 inches.
First recorded in 1840 by the collector John Gilbert, from whom it takes its scientific name, Gilbert's Potoroo was once thought to be extinct. Today, it holds the critical distinction of being the world's rarest marsupial and Australia's rarest mammal.
Sloths have an average body temperature of around 31 degrees, so they can't survive outside of the tropics.
If they are released or escape into the wild, hamsters and gerbils would compete with our native rodents for the same food resources. They could also pose a risk of disease introduction, with both being a significant risk to the survival of our native animals.
Top lavender is now widely naturalised in Australia, but is originally from North Africa and the Mediterranean in southeastern Australia. It's an environmental weed and forms dense stands that eliminate all other ground-level plants.
More than 80% of our plants, mammals, reptiles and frogs are unique to Australia and are found nowhere else in the world. Some of our Australian animals are very well known like kangaroos, dingos, wallabies and wombats and of course the koala, platypus and echidna.
Ostriches were introduced to Australia in the late 1800's however like many niche agriculture industries it has fluctuated over the years. During periods when the Ostrich industry has struggled many birds either escaped or were released. Small populations may remain in the rangelands of South Australia.
A horse. Between 2001 and 2021, horses were responsible for 222 deaths across Australia — nearly one-third of all animal-related fatalities, according to the National Coronial Information System (NCIS). Most of these incidents involved falls during riding or handling, not aggression. The surprises don't stop there.
Thylacoleo carnifex, also known as the marsupial lion, is an extinct species of carnivorous marsupial mammal that lived in Australia from the early to the late Pleistocene (1.6 million–46 thousand years ago).
The dingo—Australia's only native canid—is descended from south Asian wolves. The current scientific name is Canis familiaris (dingo). Eye-catching, curious and sometimes dangerous, dingoes can be observed across mainland Australia where they play an important role in the natural environment.
The dingo is a primitive type of dog that arrived in Australia around 5000BP. Dingoes helped Aboriginal people to catch small animals, often opportunistically. Aboriginal men also used them to effectively hunt large animals like kangaroo. Domestic dogs introduced by Europeans were used to hunt in different ways.
The most popular pet in Australia is the dog, found in nearly half of Australian households (around 49%), followed by cats, with about 34% of households owning them, making dogs the clear favourite, although fish and birds are also very common. These figures come from recent surveys, showing a strong and consistent preference for dogs as companions across the nation.
The Dingo is Australia's wild dog. It is an ancient breed of domestic dog that was introduced to Australia, probably by Asian seafarers, about 4,000 years ago. Its origins have been traced back to early breeds of domestic dogs in south east Asia (Jackson et al. 2017).
“Rabbits are our most destructive invasive species, impacting over 300 threatened species. In contrast, cats are a major threat to about 123 threatened species, and foxes, 95. “A key reason that rabbits impact such a very high number of native species is that they impact both threatened plants and animals.
Since World War Two Australians have taken part in many other wars and conflicts, including Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War, Afghanistan and the ongoing "War on Terror". In some conflicts we have marched into the front line, in others we have worked as peacekeepers and humanitarians.
German soldiers generally held a mix of fear, deep respect, and admiration for Australian troops in both World Wars, recognizing them as exceptionally tough, cunning, and tenacious fighters, with figures like Erwin Rommel praising their fighting spirit and describing them as magnificent in attack and defense, though some German press also dismissed them as a small population incapable of sustaining a major war effort.