It is even more amazing than the wildlife of the rest of Australia.
Most of it is much the same as the wildlife in many other places in
Australia, particularly in north
Queensland.
But then there are also the unique
Cape York animals
- the species that are only found here and in our
northern neighbour Papua New Guinea.
And that said, it is not easy to
see
most of the animals.
The absence of them
can be
quite
obvious, particularly during the drier parts of the year, which is the
high season for Cape York travellers.
You basically
have to put a bit of effort into finding them, or at
least know where to go
to find them.
Each species has their
own hot
spots, they are all in the Destination
Guide.
Cape
York Mammals
Australia's
most unique mammals are monotremes
platypus
and echidna.
Echidna
is
found in the whole Australia, including Cape York, and while it is not
easily seen everywhere, you do sometimes come across it.
Platypus
is
a water animal, it lives in freshwater streams and waterholes,
and it is a
shy animal.
Australian
platypus
and echidna.
Kangaroos
and Wallabies
Most
other Australian mammals
are marsupials.
Some of the most famous marsupials such as koalas and wombats are not
found in Cape York. Neither do we have many kangaroos. Only one
kangaroo
- the Eastern Grey, lives in the south-eastern parts of the peninsula.
All
other kangaroo-like animals that you may come across are either
wallabies
or wallaroos. There is also one species of tree
kangaroo on Cape York, but it is not very easy to spot.
Rufous Wallaby and Tree Kangaroo.
Possums
and Gliders
There
are a few different species of possums
in Cape York, such as brushtails, ringtails, striped possums and
others. Some are found on the whole peninsula, others in smaller areas.
There are also a few species of gliders and two species of cuscus.
Brushtail
Possum and Sugar
Gliders.
Carnivorous
Marsupials
Quolls,
dunnarts and bandicoots are
carnivorous marsupials.
Bandicoots are quite
easy to see, they
come to camping grounds and eat
food scarps, while dunnarts and quolls are shyer.
Spotted
Tailed Quoll.
Bats
and Flying Foxes
Bats
and flying foxes are placental
(not marsupial) mammals. Apart from the more common little red flying
fox that is found in many
other parts of Australia, there are two more species of flying
foxes
in Cape
York - the larger - black; and the bit smaller - spectacled flying fox.
There are also about five species of bats.
Tube
Nosed Bat and Spectacled Flying Fox.
Dingoes
and Other Introduced Cape York Wildlife
Other
placental animals are dingoes and introduced animals. Dingoes are not
very easy to come across, but feral pigs and feral horses are
everywhere. You most likely see them on your trip.
Dingo at Jardine River ferry
crossing.
Cape
York Wildlife - Birds
Some of
the most amazing birds
are
the flightless emus and cassowaries. Emus are common and easy to see
even in the rest of Australia, while cassowaries
are endangered, rare to see and only found in tropical north
Queensland including
Cape York.
Emu
and Southern Cassowary.
There are
also many other,
smaller flightless birds.
Some of the most common ones in Cape York are bush
turkeys.
They are
found in the whole coastal Queensland
where they 'normally' have a yellow
collar around
their neck, but the subspecies found on the Cape York peninsula has
whiteish or
purple.
Bush
Turkey - Cape York / Atherton Tablelands.
Parrots
and Cockatoos
Parrots, rosellas
and lorikeets are some of the most
colourful, noisy and fun birds to watch. A fair few species are
found in Cape York, including eastern rosellas and rainbow lorikeets,
as well as red winged, golden shouldered, red cheeked and eclectus
parrots.
Eastern
Rosella and Rainbow Lorikeet.
Another
group
of fun and
noisy, but less colourful birds are cockatoos.
There are a few species in Cape York, including sulphur crested, red
tailed black and palm
cockatoos as well as galahs
and little
corellas.
Galah
and Red Tailed Black Cockatoo.
Kookaburra
and Other Kingfishers
Another famous Australian
bird is kookaburra,
and while the better known laughing kookaburra is found in the southern
and
eastern parts of Australia, up north we also have the blue
winged
kookaburra. Both are found in Cape York, along
with seven other species of kingfishers.
Blue
Winged Kookaburra and Collared Kingfisher.
Jabirus
and Brolgas
Cape
York is also home for jabirus
and brolgas
- beautiful large birds with
a wingspan of more than a metre. Brolgas
are grassland birds and jabirus live near water.
A brolga and a
jabiru.
Tropical
Pigeons and Doves
There
are many colourful pigeons
and
doves in
Australia. Some better known ones that are found in Cape York are
Wompoo fruit
doves and imperial pigeons. Wompoo
Fruit Dove and Imperial Pigeon.
Birds
of Prey
Australian largest raptor,
the wedge tailed eagle is found in Cape York, but is not quite as
common here as further south in the outback
Queensland.
The second largest - the white bellied sea eagle is quite common and
quite easy to see. There are a few
other species of eagle, as well as hawks, kites, ospreys and falcons.
There are also a few different species of owls,
frogmouths (Tawny,
Papuan
and
marbled) and
nightjars.
Lesser
Sooty Owl and and
White Bellied
Sea Eagle.
Of course, there are
many, many other birds in Cape York, too many to describe here in
detail. One of my special favourites is the tiny and beautiful sunbird - also only
found in north Queensland.
Sunbird
- only found in coastal north Queensland.
Cape
York Reptiles
and Amphibians
The most
famous reptiles
are of
course crocodiles.
There are two
species of crocodiles
in Australia, and both are found in Cape York.
Two
Types of Crocodiles
The
large,
man eating saltwater
crocodile is the
world's largest crocodile.
It is very dangerous, and it will kill a human
for food if you give it a chance. The smaller, freshwater
crocodile
can give you a bite, but it doesn't kill humans for food. The two are
easy
to distinguish by their size, and the broadness of their snout.
Saltwater
and Freshwater
Crocodile.
Two
Types of Turtles
Another
group of dinosaur-time reptiles (along with the crocodiles) are
turtles,
and just like in crocodiles, there are saltwater and freshwater turtles.
Freshwater and
saltwater turtle.
Lizards,
Skinks and Geckos
We have many species
of lizards
in Cape
York, but one of the most special ones isfrilled
lizard,
which belongs to the group ofdragons.
Frilled
Lizard, Iron Range. Skinks
is
one of the largest groups of reptiles in Australia. There are many
different skinks in Cape York, the largest ones are blue
tongue
skinks.
A
skink in Weipa.
As we are in the tropics we also have the little and cute gecko
lizards, including house
geckoes (both the native
and the Asian house gecko).
Gecko
Lizard in Cape Tribulation.
Monitors
and Goannas
Other,
larger reptiles that
you may come across are monitor
lizards
(including sand
goanna).
They
are impressively large meat-eating reptiles. We don't
have the Australia's largest one - perentie - but we do have the second
largest - lace
monitor.
Lace
Monitor in Cairns.
Snakes are also Cape York Wildlife
We also have many snakes
- some of the most feared reptiles. Like in the rest of Australia,
we have both non
venomous and poisonous
snakes in Cape York, however on your trip you probably only
come across the harmelss and very common black headed python.
Black
Headed Python near Ussher Point.
Frogs are also Cape York Wildlife
Most
of frogs
that you will see in Cape York are green
tree frogs. There are many species of native brown-coloured
frogs too, but the introduced pests cane
toads are fat and easy to recognise.
Green
Tree Frog and Cane Toad.
Cape York Insects
and Spiders
Some of
the most beautiful insects
you will see in Cape York are the electric blue Ulysses
Butterflies.
Ulysses
Butterfly in Cairns.
You may also see Cairns
Birdwings
- the largest of all Australian butterflies
(the female is, not the male in the pic below).
Cairns Birdwing butterfly in Kuranda.
Other
impressively large Australian insects are rhino
beetles, stick
insects and
praying mantids,
which are also found in Cape York.
Stick
Insect in
Cairns.
There are many different species of ants, but probably
the most common ones are green
ants, whose nests you can see everywhere. They
are harmless unless you go disturbing a group, when the attack can be
quite vicious.
Green
ants building a nest, Elliott Falls.
Another thing you will notice is termite
mounds.
They can be huge, and there is lots of them. Termites live everywhere
in Australia, but only in the northern tropics do they build mounds -
and Cape York is full of them.
Termite
mounds on Cape York, Bramwell. Of course we also do have the spiders,
and as in the rest of Australia, some can be poisonous.
Australian
bird eating spider.
Cape York Wildlife - Water
Creatures
And
finally, there are the water
animals. The most amazing marine
animals are the marine
mammals like dugongs,
whales
and
dolphins, and
there are many
places where you could see them from the coast.
Australian
whales.
Cape York is also in the northern end of the
world-famous Great
Barrier Reef, and there are so many beautiful coral
reef animals. Do take a trip to watch
them while up here - the reef is much closer to the mainland than down
south, making the tours
better value.
Coral
reef animals.
And there are also the shore animals, like soldier
crabs
and many
others.
Get
this 50 pages
guide totally for FREE.
It
contains information that helps you getting started with planning of your trip.
You get to make early-stages desicions such as when to go, how long time you
should take, how to get
there and get
around, where
to stay (general info), what
will it cost..
and a short insight to what is there to see and do in Cape York.
This complete 300 pages
travel guide is all you need before and during your trip. Besides the
background chapters on the peninsula's history and wildlife; and the comprehensive detail about all
the places (down to prices, opening hours and full contact
detail), it has invaluable information on at least 10 four wheel drive tracks,
at least 30 guaranteed FREE
camping spots on the Cape (and at least 150 on your way to
the Cape), at least 40 best
swimming holes, all mapped; as well as practical things -
from fuel, roads, wireless internet and mobile phone reception,
how to deal with the national
parks booking rules; and Aboriginal land entrance and camping permits
and alcohol restrictions - to vehicle preparation and accessories and necessary recovery
gear by my vehicle-recovery-guy partner).
Not to mention locals'
tips on how to spot that croc and palm cockatoo ;-)
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This site uses British
English, which is the English we use in
Australia.
Disclaimer:
Although
best efforts have been made to ensure that all the information on this
website is correct, this site is not to be blamed should there be a
mistake.
This is the ORIGINAL Cape York Travel Guide run Locally on the Peninsula.