quokka

Quokka Fact: A quokka’s digestion is similar in some ways to ruminants like cows and sheep. For example, their stomach has many of the same bacteria found in a sheep’s stomach, and, like other ruminants, quokkas are foregut fermenters. However, whereas ruminants have a special stomach compartment called a rumen and often chew a cud to further digest food, quokkas do not.

Quokka Fact: Quokkas have contributed to medical research, especially in the area of muscular dystrophy. They possess a similar genetic mutation to the one causing this human disease. This similarity allows scientists to study the disease’s progression and potential treatments more effectively.

Quokka Fact: 7. Quokkas sleep with their heads down Humans and quokkas position themselves quite differently when it comes to nap time. When quokkas want to catch a few Z’s, they sometimes nap with their head bowed down, rested, at their feet. As nocturnal creatures, they primarily rest under shade throughout the day. The best times to see quokkas moving about are early mornings and late afternoons.

Quokka Fact: The name of this internet star is no modern invention! It takes basis from one of the words used by the local Aboriginal Noongar people – ‘Quak–a’

Quokka Fact: With the ability to climb trees, the quokka is described as a habitat specialist – preferring to inhabit areas that have been burned in the last ten years. On the mainland, quokkas can be found in dense riparian or swamp vegetation thanks to the animal’s relatively high-water requirement but can also be found in shrubland and heath areas. Rottnest Island’s semi-arid areas are favoured by the quokka, and the Island’s Limestone heath, woodland, wetland, and settlement areas support the largest known population of this wallaby in the world.

Quokka Fact: It was described by early Dutch explorer, Willem de Vlamingh, ‘as a kind of rat as big as a common cat’

Quokka Fact: They can go for weeks without eating by living off the fat stores in their short tails; this is crucial to helping them survive in seasons where vegetation is more sparse. They can also go for months without drinking fresh water, extracting most of the water they need from the plants they eat.

Quokka Fact: These herbivorous marsupials like to swallow their food whole without chewing, then regurgitate it later and eat it again. Their diet consists of native grasses and leaves as well as the bark of some plants.

Saves time crossing the road

baby quokka doo doo