El Niño. The very name can strike fear into people. From devastating floods in Peru and Chile, to heartbreaking droughts and fires in Australia.

Focusing on Australia's diverse wildlife, we see how they have adapted to the huge swings in climate that El Niño brings. Although it can cause death and destruction, it is a natural part of the animal world.


Common Wombat

The wombat is a large burrowing marsupial which lives on the east and south coast of Australia.

There are three types of wombat. The Southern Hairy-nosed wombat, the Northern Hairy-nosed wombat and the Common wombat.

The Common wombat is, as its name suggests, the most common but the Northern Hairy-nosed wombat is one of Australia's most endangered mammals.

The wombat lives a solitary life. It is mainly nocturnal and comes out in the evenings to graze.

It builds extensive burrows of up to 20m long, with many chambers.

The wombat may have several burrows within its range and will move around them even visiting several on the same night.

Fat Tailed Dunnart

The Fat Tailed Dunnart lives in the arid and semi arid regions of southern Australia. They are completely nocturnal, only coming out to feed after nightfall. Dunnarts are marsupial carnivores.

They eat mostly insects from which they get all their water requirements. Their fat tail is used as a store for food and when full the tail takes on a distinctive carrot shape.

Their population fluctuates with the rainfall. They live in rough nests which can be a few twigs or they will even use the cracks in dried lake and river beds.

Feral Fox

Since it's introduction into Australia in the 1860's the fox has caused widespread damage to the native animals. Next to the dingo it's the largest predator.

The fox is common throughout the country - the only exceptions are the island of Tasmania and the tropics of the far north.

Feral Goats

The feral goat is one of Australia's problem animals. They were introduced with the first settlers and since then have been ravaging the country.

They compete with native animals for food and resources, destroy water holes and dams and can carry many exotic diseases

Feral Pigs

Members of the pig family are native to every continent except Australia. They were introduced by Europeans and have become one of the worst pests to agriculture.

If conditions are good they will breed throughout the year. The sow will have about six young but if conditions are good they can have up to ten piglets in one litter. As well as competing for food the pigs are a reservoir of diseases.

Goanna / Monitor Lizard

Part of the Varanidae family, which includes the gigantic (more than 3 metres) Komodo Dragon, the Goanna or Monitor Lizard is one of Australia's largest land based reptiles.

It is found throughout most of Australia.


One of Australia's animal icons, the Koala is not a bear - it is a marsupial.

The Koala spends up to 19 hours of the day either asleep or resting in the fork of a tree. It usually is most active at night.

They eat only the leaves of the eucalypts, mainly Red River Gum, Forest Gum, Grey Gum, Manna Gum, Swamp Gum, and Blue Gum.

As these leaves tend to be toxic they have a special digestive system to cope with them.

They are not drunk or stoned on their leaves it is just that they get very little energy from them, so that they conserve what little they have by not doing a lot.

The fur of the Koala is a particularly good insulator, keeping them warm in winter. However in the height of an El Niño summer they begin to bake in the treetops.

Leadbeater's Possum

Leadbeater's possum is one of Australia's most endearing and endangered marsupials. It lives in a small region of the central highlands of Victoria in the south east of the continent.

For most of the first half of the twentieth century it was thought to be extinct. It wasn't until 1961 that the tiny possum was rediscovered near Marysville in Victoria.

The possum needs hollows in mature trees to nest in but because old trees are being logged, their future is now in doubt. It is feared that they may become extinct in the next hundred years.

Leadbeater's possums live in small communities of up to ten in a nest. It is a matriarchal society with the dominant female in charge. As they start to grow it is the young females that are driven from the nest.

Northern Brown Bandicoot

This bandicoot is commonly found along the Australian east and north coast.

Most suburban gardens have experienced the conical mounds that they leave in the lawns as they dig for insects and worms.

Bandicoots do not make proper nests, more a scrape in the ground covered with leaves and grass.

In the nest the mother will give birth to her young. The Northern Brown Bandicoot has the shortest gestation of any mammal, just 12 ½ days.


The platypus is perhaps Australia's most remarkable monotreme or egg laying mammal.

The platypus is found all along the Australian east coast from north Queensland to Tasmania. Although it is widespread it is not that common, with much of its habitat under pressure from farming and polluted waterways.

When it's swimming the Platypus closes its eyes, ears and nostrils. All the information that it receives comes through tiny touch receptors in the bill.

Underwater insects are its main prey which it finds by pushing its duck like bill along the gravel at the bottom of the stream.

Snake Necked Turtle

The Snake Necked turtle, or tortoise as they are called in Australia, lives in south east Australia's swamps lakes and slow rivers.

On the drying lake where we were filming there were corpses of these littered all around, they do not tolerate the heat and lack of water for very long.


Australian Raven

The Australian raven is the largest member of the crow family.

They are birds of the plains and do a great job of cleaning up the country. They are mainly carrion feeders and feed on the corpses of all kinds of small mammals. They also feed on grasshoppers and other insects that are a problem to the farmer.

They can be distinguished from other crows by the ruffle of feathers on their throats.

Major Mitchell Cockatoos

Also called Pink Cockatoo or Leadbeaters Cockatoo, Major Mitchell cockatoos are seed and nut eaters. They must have water every day and in hot weather, more than once a day.

They were named after the famous explorer Sir Thomas Mitchell (1772-1855) who wrote about them on an exploration into the interior of New South Wales in 1835.

They don't congregate in the huge numbers that other parrots do, a group of more than a hundred is rare.

The numbers of Major Mitchell cockatoos is declining as their native food plants are swallowed up by rural development. They are also highly prized as pets and illegal trapping further decreases their numbers.

Mulga Parrots

A bird of the arid and semi-arid areas of Australia, the Mulga parrot feeds on the seeds of grasses, berries and other herbaceous plants and shrubs.

They must have water to drink and will look for food early in the morning and in the evening. It is at these times they drink.

Sacred Ibis

Sacred Ibis can been seen flying in a v formation. They all flap their wings and glide together.

The Sacred Ibis live can be seen all over the central and eastern Australia in swamps and on water covered ground, eating fish, insects, crabs, worms, frogs and other crustaceans.

In this picture, the ibis is picking at the body of a large carp that has died on the drying lake. With the lake drying fast the Sacred Ibis will soon leave.

The Laughing Kookaburra

Laughing Kookaburras live in woodlands and open forests.

They do not need free water to exist and occur in almost any part of eastern Australia with trees big enough to contain their nests.

Kookaburras eat snakes, lizards, rodents, insects, invertebrates and now and then a small bird.

We filmed them catching and eating fish, which is not surprising as they are the largest member of the Kingfisher family.

Two or three chicks are raised each season.

Instead of being forced to leave their territory when they mature, the young birds stay on to help their parents feed the next batch of chicks.

This co-operative behaviour among birds is unusual except in Australia where it increases their chances of survival.

Wedge Tailed Eagle

Australia's largest bird of prey, the Wedge Tailed Eagle, has a wingspan of up to 2.5 metres.

It is fairly common throughout Australia and feeds mostly on carrion but will kill rabbits, wallabies, small kangaroos and reptiles.

Flocks of Wedge Tailed Eagles will gather round a carcass or kill like vultures with up to 20 waiting for their turn to feed. Only one or two will feed at any one time. The rest, usually juveniles, have to wait for their turn in the pecking order.

They have huge nests which they add to year after year.

Although they usually lay two eggs only one chick normally survives.

The first to hatch will be the dominant chick and will peck and persecute the other. The dominant chick will take all the food and eventually the second chick will die.



© 2000 Australian Broadcasting Corporation