Locusts swarms are consuming crops in Southern Australia. The BBC reports that 10,000 hectares (24,710 acres) of barley and wheat have already been destroyed in the New South Wales. The BBC also says one farmer lost 25 million carrots to the hungry locusts. Here is a raw video of the locusts.
This was the video of the rescue of a koala named "Sam." A firefighter found Sam moving gingerly on her scorched paws. Sam is now recovering at a wildlife shelter with other rescued animals.
Sadly, this koala was one of the lucky ones. Millions of animals are reported to have been killed in Austrlia's worst-ever wildfires.
One of Australia's rarest creatures has returned home. The stick bug, or phasmid, had thought to have been eaten into extinction but instead they were found inhabiting an island just offshore. The AP says the Melbourne Zoo is now breeding the insects in hopes of returning them to the mainland.
It sounds like the plot for a cheesy horror movie. The BBC reports that Australian wildlife officials are warning that tens of thousands of deadly snakes are moving into urban areas of Australia. The reason for the movement is that severe drought has the snakes headed to residential areas in a desperate attempt to find water. There has already been uptick in snake bites in Australia including three fatalities.
Last week a 16-year-old boy in Sydney died from a bite by an Eastern Brown, one of the world's deadliest snakes.
Many parts of Australia have been hard-hit by the drought, described as the worst for more than 100 years.
Experts have warned that an army of snakes is on the move, looking for water. Driven by extreme thirst they have been discovered in gardens, bedrooms and even Australian shopping centres.
Hospitals have reported a rising number of snakebites. Toxicologists have said there have been 60 serious cases since September.
The 16-year-old boy was killed by a eastern brown snake that bit him on the hand during a walk through the bush reserve at Whalan -- in Sydney, Australia. A Syndney Morning Heraldarticle says the eastern brown snake is the second most venomous land snake in the world after the inland taipan, which is also found in Australia.
Some facts about the eastern brown snake can be found here and here. Some photographs of the snake can be found here. The Australia Zoo has an eastern brown snake named Clyde.
An unusual type of lobster has been discovered in Australia that makes music and feels furry. ABC.net.au reports that the strange lobster was caught by fisherman in a commercial fishing trawl:
Filmer-Sankey describes the lobster as a "strange beast ... as big as a rabbit".
"It's a stridulatory cray, which means it makes a noise like a cricket by rubbing parts of its anatomy together, probably it's back legs," he says.
It's not clear why the lobster makes this sound, but scientists say it may be for mating or defending their territory.
"It's also furry. If you pick it up and handle it, the shell doesn't feel like hard and spiny like a typical lobster, it actually feels like felt," Filmer-Sankey says.
Australian's marsupials are loved the world over for the uniqueness and
cuteness. But what if they were ten times their size? Would they still
be considered cute and furry or would they be considered beasts? The
truth is that over 40,000 years ago the marsupials that populated
Australia were actually quite large and frightening. There was
the marsupial lion, which the BBC reports had the "most powerful bite of any mammal species -- living or extinct." There was the D. optatum, a massive wombat that the BBC says "reached more than two and a half tonnes on average." And there were many, many other giant marsupials and dangerous creatures that used to roam Australia including meat-eating kangaroos according to another BBC new story:
One of those monsters was a seven-metre long goanna lizard (Megalania prisca).
An adult would have weighed up to 600 kg. Then there were the tree-climbing
crocodiles, (Trilophosuchus rackhami) nicknamed the "drop crocs" for the way
they are thought to have leapt down on to their victims.
"And if that didn't get you," Professor Archer said, "there were meat-eating
kangaroos that would have stood up at your shoulder and torn your arm off."
