Wildlife in Western Australia

Wildlife in Western Australia

Western Australia covers approximately one-third of the Australian continent, yet contains less than one-tenth of the country’s population. It is a vast land of rugged outback, clear blue tropical waters and wildflowers that bloom in brilliant colours every spring.

In the far north, you will find ancient boab trees in the Kimberley region and one of Australia’s greatest natural wonders, the Bungle Bungles’ large beehive shaped rock formations.

Ningaloo Reef is the second largest coral reef in Australia and offers the unique opportunity to swim the biggest fish in the sea – the whale shark. The Ningaloo coast is also a great spot to see Humpback whales, large schools of manta rays, emus, galahs, ibis, herons, ospreys, euros and black-footed rock-wallabies.

Shark Bay is not only famous for its friendly wild bottlenose dolphins at Monkey Mia, but also turtles, manta rays, dugongs and school sharks.

On nearby Rottnest Island a daytrip from the capital city of Perth, lives the quokka, a small marsupial found nowhere else in Australia or in the world, and here you can walk right up to them!

The southern corner of the state is known as the garden of Western Australia and is a perfect birdwatching destination to see honeyeaters, the red-tailed black cockatoo, whistlers, stints and nearly 30 types of parrots.

Southern right whales can be seen from the Albany coast in the winter months and Western Grey Kangaroos, echidnas, euros, bilbies, potoroos, bandicoots, woylies (Brush-tailed Bettong), boodies (Burrowing Bettong) and the numbat (found only in Western Australia) can be seen in the national parks close to Perth.