Threat Level
Least Concern

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Short-beaked Echidna
Fact Sheet

(Tachyglossus aculeatus)

The Echidna has a slender snout and long, flicking tongue, ideal for catching insects. The Echidna also has distinctive sharp spines (quills) along its back and sides for protection against predators. When threatened, the Echidna will curl inwards, leaving only their sharp spines exposed.

Habitat

Found throughout Australia, the Echidna is a highly adaptable creature and can be found in coastal forests, alpine meadows and interior deserts. The Echidna has the widest distribution of any native Australian mammal.

Diet

Echidnas have no teeth! They live on a very specific diet of termites, ants and other soil invertebrates, especially beetle larvae. They have very strong claws in which to break open rotting logs to collect termites.

Breeding

The Echidna's breeding season occurs between July and August. After mating the male and female go their separate ways. Four weeks later the female lays a single egg into a simple pouch on her abdomen. Ten days later the baby Echidna hatches and starts to lap up milk from its mother. Baby Echidnas start life without hair or quills but will eventually grow these. When the young is too prickly to carry, the mother will dig a burrow for it. The young is weaned at about 7 months of age.

Alberta

Sex: Female

You Can Adopt Alberta

Alberta - aka - Fat Albert or Fatty bomsticks is a favourite with all the Keepers. At feed time she is sure to greet you with her long slimy tongue flickering. She is always the first to get stuck into her tucker too!In our mammals section we like to bond as much as possible with the animals we care for and Fatty seems to thrive on it. Whenever we get in the enclosure be it at feed time, cleaning or just doing a little maintenance, Fatty will come to say hi!

Echidnas are usually a very shy and timid animal that stick there quills out and curl up into protective mode at the first hint of noise or movement - but not our Fatty. She is quite inquisitive and doesn't mind getting the odd pat.Now believe it or not, Echidnas are quite proficient swimmers, and guess who uses our new pond more than anyone else does - yes it's Fatty bomsticks!

Prickle

Sex: Female

You Can Adopt Prickle

Australia Zoo cares for six echidnas which are currently living in one of our off display enclosures. We have one very special female echidna called Prickle. Every week the Koala Hospital receives hundreds of animal rescue calls, and this is how Prickle came to live at Australia Zoo.

Prickle was diagnosed with Chlamydia, which left her with permanent eye damage and unable to be released back to the wild.

Prickle loves her home at Australia Zoo and all the other echidnas that she lives with!