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NZ and Australia have very different fauna. They might look close on a world map but the distance from Sydney to Auckland is over 2000 km. Just one example: Au
by nnethercote 10y ago
NZ and Australia have very different fauna. They might look close on a world map but the distance from Sydney to Auckland is over 2000 km.
Just one example: Australia has a wide variety of mammals (mostly marsupials, e.g. kangaroos). NZ has very few native mammals, but it does have a huge assortment of unusual native birds. (Indeed, birds fill a lot of ecological niches that mammals normally do.) In fact, there's an ongoing effort to get rid of all non-native mammals: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/12/22/big-kill http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/12/22/big-kill
Finally, the "all the Animals in Australia want to kill you" idea is popular and kind of amusing, but hugely overblown. Yes, there are deadly animals but you typically have to be doing something unusual or silly to encounter one in a dangerous way. Plus there's no poison ivy...
- doldge 10y agoI believe the only native mammal in NZ is actually a fruit bat [0]. (although Wikipedia includes sea mammals, such as dolphins and sea-lions as well.) [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammals_of_New_Zealand https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammals_of_New_Zealand
- houk 10y agoWe do have this though - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dendrocnide_moroides https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dendrocnide_moroides
- emmelaich 10y agoYep, nastier than poison ivy - from personal experience.
- smegel 10y agoTrue story - during WW2 when US soldiers were stationed here, some clever larrikans told the yanks that particular leaf made good "toilet paper". I am surprised we are still allies.
- thomasfoster96 10y agoThe relationship during WW2 wasn’t always great: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Brisbane https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Brisbane
- nnethercote 10y agoSure, but it's only in far north rainforests. Poison ivy is all over the place in North America.
- rukuu001 10y ago> Yes, there are deadly animals but you typically have to be doing something unusual or silly to encounter one in a dangerous way. True everywhere except the far north (North Queensland, Northern Territory and the top end of Western Australia) where there are saltwater crocodiles. In that part of Australia, unless there's a sign saying otherwise, assume any body of water has a crocodile in it, watching you :)
- nnethercote 10y agoWhen you take into account where most of the Australian population lives, doing anything in the far north arguably qualifies as unusual :)