When people talk about Australia, you tend to hear a lot of superlatives: the oldest this, the biggest that, and so on. It is truly a country of extremes.
Australia is vast and contains immense temperature and climate variations. The country boasts world-renowned beaches along its endless coastline, as well as multiple rainforests – one of which is the oldest in the world. Australia is also home to the oldest civilization on earth: Aboriginal Australians have lived there for approximately 50,000 years.
Yet another Australian claim to fame is that it’s the only country on earth that is also a continent. Because of this natural isolation from the rest of the world, life forms have evolved there over the eons that you can’t find anywhere else in the world. In other words, they’ve got some crazy animals down under! We’re about to introduce you to some of the weirdest and fiercest of Australia’s unique creatures.
You’re undoubtedly familiar with some of these critters: the iconic kangaroo, for example. Many others will likely be new to you. Some live in the Outback, the enormous parched desert that spreads across the middle of the continent, while others cozy up closer to humans in the more populated southeastern section of the country. All of them are fascinating as well as extremely dangerous (in their own way, at least).