Australian Wild Life thematic postage stamps - Australian thematic postal stationary
Numbat or Banded Anteater (Myrmecobius fasciatus)
The numbat is the faunal emblem of western Australia, the only State where it is still in evidence. Eucalypt forests of the south-west, where the ground Is littered with fallen branches and hollow logs, provide the numbat with food and shelter. unlike most marsupials, it sleeps at night and feeds during the day. Termites are its staple diet.
Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus)
Queensland adopted the popular koala as Its faunal emblem in 1971. Koalas spend the greater part of each day asleep in the fork of a tree, rousing themselves after dark to feed. Their diet consists predominantly of eucalypt leaves which are unpalatable, even poisonous, to most mammals.
Hairy-nosed wombat (Laslorhinus latifmns)
The hairy-nosed wombat is a protected species in South Australia and was adopted as that State's faunal emblem in 1970. very powerful diggers, these womDats excavate deep burrow systems to avoid the temperature extremes of their arid environment, emerging to feed only at night Although clumsy-looking, they can run at speeds of 40km an hour If threatened.
Platypus (Ornitnorhynchus anatinus)
That most extraordinary Australian mammal, the platypus, is the faunal emblem of New south wales, it has a duck-like bill, webbed feet and egg-laying reproductive system. An amphibious creature, it lives in burrows in the banks of rivers and streams In eastern Australia, and forages underwater for food.
