This echidna lives from 1300m to 4000m above sea level. It lives in alpine meadow and humid forests in the mountains. Unlike the short-beaked echidna which eats ants and termites, the long-beaked species eats earthworms. It is also larger that the short-beaked species. It can be told apart from the other "Zaglossus" species by the number of claws on the front and back feet. It has three (rarely four) claws.