Animal Diaries Archive

Fast Facts

26 January 2007

G'day from Rover Lauren and Freddo. Here at Australia Zoo our roving team are out and about all day long talking to people and passing on exciting information about our weird and wonderful animals. Here are some interesting facts for you to impress your friends with!

Did you know...?

• An adult elephant can hold between 6 nd 7 litres of water in its trunk. When you're next in the Zoo, you will have to check out our three beautiful small-eared Asian elephants playing in their new swimming pool.
• An adult crocs can hold its breath for up to three hours. WOW!
• A Wedge-tailed Eagle's eyesight is 2.5 times more magnified or eight times better than ours. Just imagine how awesome it would be to look through their eyes.
• Emus can't walk backwards and neither can the kangaroo.
• Some animals can re-grow damaged parts of their bodies. A starfish can re-grow arms and some lizards can re-grow a tail if lost to a predator.
• The oldest living animal ever recorded was our very own Harriet. She was a beautiful Giant Galapagos Land Tortoise and reached the age of 175 years. Now that's awesome! Good on her.
• The elephant is the largest animal on land, but much smaller than the Blue Whale.
• A croc when fully grown has 3000 pounds per square inch closing jaw pressure.
• A group of kangaroos is called a mob.
• The Komodo Dragon's saliva is filled with deadly bacteria.
• An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.
• A koala sleeps from 18-20hours a day due to its diet.
• A wombat can reach speeds of up to 40km over short distances. You will have to come in and meet our six cute Common Wombats and three Southern Hairy-nosed Wombats.
• A domestic cat can reach speeds of approximately 20km and a cheetah can reach speeds of up to 90km – 110km.
• The world's largest mammal is the Blue Whale.
• A snake's scales and a rhino's horn and even our very own fingernails are made up of the same thing... Keratin.