Short-beaked Echidna
Tachyglossus aculeatus
Habitat Grassland, shrubland, rainforest, woodland, desert
IUCN Status Least Concern
Like platypuses, echidnas are egg-laying mammals known as “monotremes”. Echidnas use their snout and claws to dig into termite nests and ant nests before scooping up the insects with their long tongue.
Males follow a female around in a chain called an Echidna Train. At the end of breeding season, females lay a single egg. Echidna young are called “puggles” and are carried in the mother’s pouch for between two and three months, or until they grow too prickly, after which the mother builds a nursery burrow and stores the puggle until it is weaned.
While echidnas are considered an iconic Aussie species, the Short-beaked echidna is the only species of echidna actually found in Australia and is the sole member of the genus Tachyglossus. The other four species of echidna are found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea and belong to the genus Zaglossus.
Every year, volunteers and staff at the Woodlands and Wetlands Trust undertake an Echidna Count at Mulligans Flat. We use a capture - release - recapture method, marking the captured echidnas with nail polish on one of their quills. This helps ensure that no echidna is counted twice.
Photograph by Elsie Percival