Australia's
Wildlife: explore its diverse wonders
| Wildlife consultancies -
fauna surveys, customized
interpretive computer programs etc. by the Araucaria team |
Wildlife conservation
- wildlife conservation in Australia Sustainable wIldlife tourism Araucaria's conservation
projects |
Wildlife behaviour : intrduction
and links to
interesting websites |
Wildlife Ecology: brief
information and links to interesting websites |
Wildlife Art and
Photography:
links to interesting websites |
Wildlife
behaviour
 Why do animals do the
things they do?
The answers usually involve staying alive (ecological needs) or
contributing to the next generation (coursthip, raising young):
- How does
a particular animal find its food? Why does it need this kind of
food? How do young animals learn what to eat?
- How does it avoid
being eaten by others?
- How does it behave
towards other members of its species? Cooperation, avoidance,
aggression, social grooming ...?
- How does it behave
towards other species?
- How does it find a
mate? How does it care for its young?
- Does it see what we
see? Does it have senses we don't have?.
- Play
behaviour - does it play? How? Does it learn anything by playing?
Useful
links to unformation on animal behaviour
Animal
behaviour is one of the topics explored in the Scenic Rim WIldlife Ecology Centre
 Wildlife
Ecology
Ecology is the
scientific study of animals, plants, fungi etc. in its natural (e.g.
rainforest) or modified (e.g. farmland with scattered trees)
environment, and their interactions with each
other.
If an animal is to survive it needs:
- resources
- food, water, shelter etc.
- to
avoid being eaten, or infected by too many parasites and disease
organisms
- to
avoid extremes of heat, cold, and other climatuic conditions
If
the species is to persist in the region, at least some of the animals
will need to:
- live long enough to
reach reproductive age
- find a mate (although
some insects can give birth without a mate)
- find a suitable place
to give birth or lay eggs
- possibly (depending
on the species) have enough resources to continue caring for the young
until they can live independently
Interactions
between animas/animals or animals/plants can include:
- one feeds from the other: predator/prey,
herbivore/plant, scavenger/carcass or parasite/host
- competition between two animals seeking the
same food, nesting hollow or other resource
- mutualism (mutually beneficial) - e.g. birds,
fruitbats or insects drink nectar and pollinate the flowers they
visit, fruitbats, ants and many birds eat fruit and disperse seed
through the forest or heathland
The
above may sound simple, but different animals do things very
differently, and the answers to questions may be quite complex.
Some
useful links:
Ecological research is one of the topics
explored in the Scenic Rim WIldlife
Ecology Centre
 Wildlife Art and
Photography
Some useful links:
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have seen on
wildlife, birding, island and outbacks tours.