One of only 2 monotremes in Australia, the Echidna is very common across the whole of the continent, including Tasmania.

Often spotted around dawn and dusk when it is the most active, Echidnas feed primarily on ants and termites, which they expose by tearing apart nests with powerful digging claws.

When disturbed, the Echidna will either roll up into a ball, or half bury itself (with surprising speed) exposing nothing but spines.

The single egg is incubated for about 10 days, after which the young is suckled, first in mum's pouch, and later in a burrow, where baby is left while mum forages. The juvenile, called a "puggle" follows the mother around after weaning, reaching adulthood at about the age of 12 months.

Being relatively slow moving, most of our Echidnas come into care as a result of motor vehicle collisions, which very often seriously damages the complex fused mouth, whose jawbones are fused into a 'beak'.