by Will & Travis

Habitat:
The common short-beaked echidna is native to eastern Australia and Tasmania. There have also been sightings in Papua New Guinea. The Echidna lives in areas such as the highlands and desert areas of Eastern Australia.

Movement:
This very unusual animal is a slow-moving quadruped, which means it has four legs and with them it goes pretty slowly. There are other ways it can move such as rolling.

Protection:
The echidna's main source of protection is the spines on its back and what it is most famous for also. The echidna has other forms of protection but the spines are the best.

Its claws are another very good way to protect itself and are great for digging. To help it escape from predators it will roll up into a ball and roll away.

 
Size/Life Span:
The echidna grows to 35-45 centimetres ms long and its weight is usually between 2and 7 kilograms. The echidna lifespan is usually 45 and 55 years.

Covering/Coat:
The claws of the short-beaked echidna are sharp enough to pierce a human and are found like usual on the feet. Everyone knows the Echidna is famous for its unusual covering and uses it for many reasons and one of those reasons being to protect itself.
Food:
The common short beaked echidna eats mainly ants and termites but sometimes makes an exception for eating other small insects. The echidna has a snout or sometimes called a beak, which it eats and smells out of. The echidna to get to its prey has to dig into the termites and ants' mounds and usually gets very dirty.

Reproduction:
The echidna lays 1-3 eggs a year and the eggs are about the size of a fifty-cent piece. Eggs hatch within 11 days of gestation and the infants are the size of a twenty-cent piece.

Here's some links to other pages on Echidna:

Echidna by Lauren The Echidna and I The Echidna Gallery
Echidna Long Beaked Echidna Short Beaked Echidna
Species Under Threat The Echidna Echidna & Platypus
Here's our other project pages:
Main Wolf by Cassie Red Kangaroo by Jeremy
Elephants by Kaitlin & Rachel King Cobra by Chris D. Mountain Lion by James
Tasmanian Devil by Jas. & Britta Siberian Tiger by Madeline & Shane Connemara Pony by M & M

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Pages and Graphics by Glenda Crew, 22 April, 2001