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Exploring Australia

W ombats are stocky, round marsupials that grow to about three feet (1 m) in length and can weigh as much as 88 pounds (40 kg). Giant Kangaroos The first Aborigines hunted animals that have now disappeared. These included diprotodonts, which were giant marsupials. There were also other giant marsupials such as wombats (above) and koalas. Many of these animals became extinct because the Aborigines hunted too many of them. Other animals became smaller over the centuries. Today’s gray kangaroos can reach over six feet (two m) in height and today’s wombats are relatives of the prehistoric wombats.

A photograph taken in 1878 of some Torres Strait islanders. Torres Strait Islanders

Papua New Guinea became separated from the Australian mainland 8,000 years ago (at the same time as the islands of Great Britain and Ireland became separated from Europe) because of the rise in the sea’s level. The tops of mountains and volcanoes that remained above the sea became islands in the Torres Strait. The Torres Strait between Australia and Papua New Guinea is about 90 miles (145 km) wide. A new population grew up in Papua New Guinea and these people moved on to the surrounding islands. The islanders depended on the sea for their food, but grew some crops as well. The people who live on these islands are called Torres Strait Islanders and they are Australia’s second group of indigenous people. People from the eastern Torres Strait islands speak a Papuan language, while those from the western islands speak an Aboriginal language. Goods were exchanged across the Torres Strait between the Aborigines, Torres Strait Islanders and the Papuans.

T here are about fifty different types of kangaroo in Australia. This is a western grey kangaroo.

T he Great Barrier Reef is made up of reefs and islands. It runs along the east coast of Australia for more than 1,200 miles (2,000 km).

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