Native Outback Wildlife

Native Outback Wildlife

Written by: Cameron Ward

Published: 03/27/2020

Reading time: 3 mins

There might be nothing but vast red land as far as the eye can see, but you may be surprised to learn there is a lot of wildlife living in Australia’s outback.

With a careful eye, and if you know what you’re looking for, you’ll be surprised with just how easy it is to find these fantastic native animals.

  • Frilled-neck lizard

    Frilled-neck lizards look exactly how you think they might. Growing up to 90cm in length, a whopping two-thirds of their bodies are tail. Surrounding their necks is a large gathered frill. It sits flush to their body most of the time but when presented with a threat, they use their yellow gaping mouths and bright coloured frills to scare away potential predators.

    They spend most of their time scuttering across the ground, however, they can use their strong back legs to run quickly up trees to avoid danger.

  • Wedge-tailed eagle

    Patrolling the sky this impressive bird of prey was once considered a pest in Australia! Swooping down at incredible speeds they would use their strong talons to grab lambs and other young farm animals. However, it is now known their preferred diet is rabbit!

    Wedge-tailed eagles are particularly territorial creatures so if you’ve seen one, you’ll likely not see another for a while. They thrive in open country where they can see the world below them. Look up and you will see these incredible creatures soaring across the clear blue sky.

  • Greater bilby

    Let us begin by saying this, contrary to what some believe, the bilby is a real creature! They belong to a family of small, ground-dwelling marsupials called bandicoots. They are easily identified by their long pointy ears and silky blue fur.

    Though they are small their strength is mighty, and they use their muscular forelimbs and long claws to dig deep burrows to live in and find buried food. They use their burrows to shelter from the harsh desert heat in the day and come out under the cover of night to forage and mate. Like humans, they are omnivores and will eat most foods available to them.

  • Australian feral camel

    Yeah, you read that right, Australian feral camel. It often comes as a surprise to learn that Australia is thought to have the largest feral camel population. They were first introduced to Australia in the 1840s, and have run wild ever since.

    You can find some tame camels at camel ranches through the outback, but don’t be surprised if you see a bunch of camels running across the horizon!

  • Sand goanna

    Sand Goanna is a large and strong lizard found across the outback. They grow to over 1.5m long and are the second-largest monitors in Australia. They mate at the end of the year and lay up to 6 eggs at a time.

    They can easily be identified by their yellow and brown patterned skin. Sand goanna have a particularly great sense of smell and use their long-forked tongues to help explore the environment around them. When living near the more tropical areas in the Northern Territory they enjoy eating crocodile eggs.

As you can see there is a wide variety of native animals for you to spot when you’re in the outback. Book your Uluru tour today!

Related article: Are there snakes at Uluru?

Cameron Ward
Cameron Ward
Managing Director at Sightseeing Tours Australia

Cameron Ward turned his travel passion into a thriving Australian tourism business. Before he co-founded his own business, Sightseeing Tours Australia, he was enjoying being a Melbourne tour guide. Even now, Cameron delights in helping visitors from all around the world get the most out of their incredible Australian trip. You’ll see Cameron leading tours or writing about his favourite Australian places where he shares his local insights.