Game: Wild ThingZ QuiZ
Difficulty: Moderate
Aim
To increase students’ knowledge and understanding of Tasmanian native wildlife.
To prepare the game
1. Print out the sheets, preferably onto card.
2. Cut out the game cards and fold them in half.
3. Laminate the cards, or glue the closed halves together.
To play
There are many ways to play this game – it is similar to a TV game or panel show or Trivial Pursuit.
If this is a class or large group activity:
The facts on the cards are read out one at a time and students are asked to use deductive thinking to build up a
‘picture’ of an individual animal, and then guess what animal is being described.
Scores can be allocated and adjusted to reward the fastest correct answer or a time frame can be set.
To discourage students indiscriminately calling out possible right answers, a limited number of guesses at the
answer could be set, (perhaps four).
The game can also be played in pairs with each person taking turns to ask and respond.
Further work
• Using the information on the bottom left of the cards, group together animals that eat a similar diet, eg.
herbivore. Select one group and describe any other similarities in their lifestyle or habits.
• Group animals on the basis of their habitat. Select one group and try to draw a food web for that habitat.
• Research one of these animals and create a project about them. Try to include their diet and habitat.
• Choose an animal. Try to work out how their body characteristics (eg. claws for climbing) assist them to
survive in their habitat, avoid predators and obtain food.
• Choose an animal. Research how might the recent introduction of foxes to Tasmania affect that animal?
• Choose an animal. Which Tasmanian national parks have the right habitat for it to live in?
These websites may assist you.
www.parks.tas.gov.au
www.dpipwe.tas.gov.au
For detailed information on Tasmanian wildlife see the Natural Values Atlas.
www.naturalvaluesatlas.dpiw.tas.gov.au
Depar tment of Primar y Industries, Parks, Water and Environment
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• I have white spots covering my thick, brown, coarse fur including
my tail.
• I am a monotreme, which means I am an egg-laying mammal.
ANSWER
carnivore
forest
spotted-tailed quoll
• In the wild I live up to five years.
• The male has venomous spurs on his hind legs.
ANSWER
carnivore
rivers/lakes
platypus
• I am a good tree climber.
• Up to 5 of my young stay in my pouch for up to 7 weeks. Between 2
and 4 survive to be weaned.
• I eat worms, insects, molluscs, and small invertebrates.
• I locate my food under water using my sensitive bill which can detect
minute electrical impulses from prey.
• I am a carnivorous mammal. I eat small birds, small mammals,
invertebrates, reptiles and carrion.
• I have very dense fur which enables me to spend a lot of time in
freshwater streams and lakes.
Wild ThingZ QuiZ
What am I?
Wild ThingZ QuiZ
www.parks.tas.gov.au
www.dpipwe.tas.gov.au
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What am I?
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ANSWER
fungivore
dry forest
bettong
• Now that my cousins on mainland Australia are extinct (primarily due
to foxes), I am endemic to Tasmania, which means I am found nowhere
else in the world.
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answer
insectivore
forest
echidna
• I have hard spines sticking out from my thick brown fur. If I am
frightened I will dig myself into a hole leaving only my spines exposed.
• I have a long snout and sticky tongue to pick up ants, larvae and eggs.
• I keep my single soft-shelled egg in my pouch for about ten days. When
I hatch I stay in the burrow until I look like my mum. I suckle for about
5 months.
• I take shelter amongst thick bushes, in hollow logs and sometimes in
wombat or rabbit holes.
• I eat mainly fungi, but also some seeds and insects.
• I am a small marsupial, with light-coloured fur, short round ears and a
long prehensile tail. This tail can curl downwards to grasp and carry
grass to build my nest.
• I am a surprisingly good swimmer with powerful front paws.
• I hop with my back legs. I live in dry forests and woodlands.
What am I?
Wild ThingZ QuiZ
Wild ThingZ QuiZ
www.parks.tas.gov.au
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www.parks.tas.gov.au
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What am I?
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ANSWER
carnivore
forest
Tasmanian devil
• Recently I have suffered from a terrible disease and am now a
threatened species. I am found only in Tasmania.
• I am a hunter and have very powerful jaws to crunch through bones,
and sharp teeth for tearing flesh and fur.
• I am a carnivorous marsupial. I eat mainly animals that are already dead
which helps to stop the spread of disease.
• Females give birth to many young, but have only 4 teats in their pouch.
In the wild we live for around 6 years.
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answer
carnivore
rocky coastlines, ocean
Australian fur seal
• In the past I was hunted as food and for my fur. As a result I nearly
became extinct.
• I am an excellent swimmer and diver and can hold my breath for a
long time. I am playful and can become entangled in fishing nets and
marine litter.
• Males are around 2m long.
• In the wild I can live for up to 20 years.
• I eat mainly fish, squid, octopus and cuttlefish.
• My home range is very big, between 5 and 25 square km. At night I
can move up to 10km when I go looking for food.
Wild ThingZ QuiZ
What am I?
Wild ThingZ QuiZ
www.parks.tas.gov.au
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• I am very common in Tasmania.
• I have soft brownish–grey fur, large ears and a long tail which helps me
to balance when I jump.
answer
herbivore
forest, grassland
eastern grey kangaroo (Forester)
answer
herbivore
forest, grassland
red-necked wallaby (Bennetts)
• I am smaller than a kangaroo.
• I have very strong thigh muscles.
• My young first peep out of the pouch at 6 months old and stay in the
pouch for just over 9 months.
• My young stay in my pouch for 10 months, and feed on milk for 18
months.
• I am the largest marsupial in Tasmania and like to spend time in
large groups.
• My fur is grey with a brown tinge, I have a black nose and paws.
• I rest during the day. I feed throughout the night, mainly on grass,
beginning a few hours before sunset until few hours after sunrise.
• I feed on grasses and herbs. I usually eat during the evening and the
night. I rest in scrub during the day.
• I like to spend time in woodlands, open forests and grasslands.
Wild ThingZ QuiZ
What am I?
Wild ThingZ QuiZ
www.parks.tas.gov.au
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What am I?
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herbivore
forest, grassland
common wombat
• My scats (droppings) are cube-shaped and are usually found on low
rocks or logs.
• My teeth grow continuously.
• I am the largest burrowing mammal in Tasmania.
• My pouch opens to the rear, so it does not fill with dirt when I dig. I
carry one young, which stays in my pouch for 6-10 months.
• My burrows can have several entrances and more than one bedding
chamber. They can be between 2 and 20m long.
• I have a powerful round body, small ears and a large flat nose.
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omnivore
forest, grassland
eastern barred bandicoot
• I am a small marsupial. I have tan coloured fur with pale stripes across
my rump.
• I have big ears, a small white-tipped tail and a long snout.
• I prefer to live where there are grasslands with many shrubs and
bushes which provide shelter.
• I dig in the soil for food and leave small conical (like a cone) holes. I eat
grubs, invertebrates, bulbs and berries.
• I am very common in Tasmania but almost extinct on the mainland,
largely due to foxes.
• I eat native grasses, rushes, sedges and roots.
Wild ThingZ QuiZ
What am I?
Wild ThingZ QuiZ
www.parks.tas.gov.au
www.dpipwe.tas.gov.au
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What am I?
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• I am common in Tasmania and am usually seen in trees.
• I have a long tail that curls at the end like a ring. It acts like a fifth limb
and has a ‘friction pad’ which helps me climb.
answer
herbivore
forest
common ringtail possum
• My ears are very important to me. I use echo-location to locate
my food.
answer
insectivore
forest
Tasmanian pipistrelle (bat)
• I eat mainly young eucalyptus leaves, flowers and fruit.
• I have soft, dark-grey fur with light fur around my ears and a white tip
on my tail.
• I like to roost in hollows of living gum trees and old buildings. I hang
upside down during the day.
• I like open forests where I fly below the tree tops to catch my food.
My diet consists of beetles, moths and bugs.
• I am the largest of my kind in Tasmania. My head and tail can be up to
7cm in length.
• I am nocturnal. I am most active during the first part of the night when
I like to go foraging and groom myself. After that I often have a rest and
then return to feed again before dawn.
• I am a mammal with light grey-brown coloured fur.
Wild ThingZ QuiZ
What am I?
Wild ThingZ QuiZ
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carnivore
forest, heathland
thylacine
• Unfortunately the last official photo of me was taken in 1936 at the
Beaumaris Zoo in Hobart, where I died. After more than fifty years, I
am now considered to be extinct.
• I have sandy-brown coloured fur with dark brown stripes across my
back and rump.
• I hunt, travel and sun myself during the day.
• I am known for my long tail and large head with a long muzzle
• I am a marsupial with a backward facing pouch.
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carnivore
forest, healthland
eastern quoll
• I used to be called a native cat, but I am a marsupial with a pouch.
• Unfortunately, I am often killed by cars on the roads.
• My fur can be ginger, fawn or black with white spots. My brothers and
sisters can be different colours. I have no spots on my long tail.
• I am common in Tasmania, but extinct on the mainland following the
introduction of foxes.
• I am carnivorous and I eat grubs, insects, small mammals, birds and fruit.
I also eat pests like corbie grubs that live in pastures.
• I eat wallabies kangaroos and other wildlife.
Wild ThingZ QuiZ
What am I?
Wild ThingZ QuiZ
www.parks.tas.gov.au
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What am I?
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• I am a very large marine mammal. I am the largest of the toothed whales.
• I have speckled red, grey and brown fur. I have short ears, small eyes
and long claws.
answer
insectivore
heathland, sedgeland
swamp antechinus
• I am sensitive to disturbance, particularly bushfires. • I live in wet buttongrass moorland and coastal heathland.
answer
carnivore
ocean
sperm whale
• Unfortunately I frequently strand on Tasmanian coastlines. I am difficult to
successfully return to the sea.
• My head is very large and has a distinctive box-like shape.
• I can hold my breath for an hour or longer. I have been known to dive to
depths beyond 2km in search of food!
• I live in pods. For most of the year the adult males live separately from
the females and young.
• I eat mainly giant squid but I also eat fish and octopus.
• I am a small marsupial, my body is about 12cm long.
• I am carnivorous and very active. I use my claws to dig amongst leaf
litter and soil for insects, larvae, lizards, earthworms and spiders.
What am I?
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Wild ThingZ QuiZ
Wild ThingZ QuiZ
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Who Am I?
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• I am a reptile and can be seen on sunny days basking on rocks or logs.
• I am the whale that most commonly strands around the Tasmanian
coastline. I strand in large numbers and whale rescuers do their best to
return us to the sea.
answer
carnivore
ocean
long-finned pilot whale
• I am about 8cm long and have four short legs.
• I live in large groups and I like to have all of my family close by. answer
insectivore
forest, grassland, heathland
White’s skink
• I eat ants, millipedes, spiders and leaf hoppers.
• I live in a burrow between rocks and logs on sunny slopes. My burrow
generally has two entrances to give me good ventilation and an escape
route if I need it!
• Most of the time when I search for food I dive for more than 10
minutes, and go to depths of between 30m and 60m below the
surface. I have been known to dive to 600m.
• I am a marine mammal with long side fins. The males are up to about
6m long and females up to nearly 5m.
• I am have attractive rows of white spots and brown stripes on
my body.
• I have teeth and eat mainly squid and sometimes fish.
Wild ThingZ QuiZ
What am I? Wild ThingZ QuiZ
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answer
carnivore
forest, grassland, heathland
wedge-tailed eagle
• I have a wingspan of up to 2.2 metres. Part of my name comes from
the shape of my tail.
• I am listed as endangered. There are only about 200 successfully
breeding pairs of us left in Tasmania.
• My feathers are dark brown and continue to get darker as I age.
• I build a huge nest in big old gum trees.
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herbivore
grassland, coastal
Cape Barren goose
• I am about the same size as a domestic goose and named after an
island in Bass Strait.
• I am usually seen in pairs or large flocks.
• I have pale grey feathers and a short black bill with a large yellow patch
above my bill.
• I lay between 3 and 6 white eggs in nest on the ground, among
tussocks, in open grassland areas.
• I make a very loud and deep honking or grunting noise.
• I mainly live on windswept offshore islands.
• I am a skilled hunter feeding on most small animals including
wallabies, possums, wombats, cats, rabbits, birds and lizards. I also eat
dead animals.
Wild ThingZ QuiZ
What am I? Wild ThingZ QuiZ
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herbivore
forest, sedgeland, coastal
orange-bellied parrot
• I have a small orange patch on my belly and a politician once called me
a ‘trumped–up corella’.
• I am a migratory bird. I breed in Tasmania’s Southwest and spend the
winter in Victoria and South Australia.
• I am one of the world’s rarest and endangered species.
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herbivore
forest
forty-spotted pardalote
• My feathers are a greenish–olive colour. My wings are black and have
many small white dots.
• I belong to a group of birds called ‘diamond birds’ because of my tiny
jewel-like appearance.
• I am endemic to Tasmania, and am an endangered species.
• I feed on a sugary substance called manna that only forms on
white gums.
• I rely on white gums for survival. I am difficult to see as I am often
found high in the treetops.
• I feed on the seeds of sedges and heath plants, mainly buttongrass. Wild ThingZ QuiZ
What am I? Wild ThingZ QuiZ
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carnivore
forest, grassland, sedgeland, heathland
tiger snake
• I have scaly skin. I have fangs that can inject venom and am the most
poisonous land animal in Tasmania. I am a reptile.
• I have a forked tongue which I use to track my prey.
• I can be jet black, grey or an orangey/sandy colour. I have bands
(stripes) on my belly that are paler than the rest of me.
• My jaw can dislocate, so I am able to eat prey larger than my head.
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insectivore
forest, rivers, creeks, lakes
Banjo frog
• I am named after a musical instrument.
• In summer and spring you can tell I’m near when you hear my
distinctive call, ‘bong, bong, pobble-bong’.
• I am an amphibian.
• I go through several stages including being a tadpole. My tadpoles take
from 4-15 months to turn into adults, longer if the water is colder.
• I am good at burrowing and I like damp places. I have moist skin.
• I eat a variety of insects and am about 6cm long.
• I do not have ears. Instead I detect sound from vibrations passing
through the ground.
Wild ThingZ QuiZ
What am I? Wild ThingZ QuiZ
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carnivore
coastal, ocean
little penguin
• I am the smallest of my type in the world.
• I make my nest under coastal vegetation, beneath bushes, rocks or
in burrows.
• I have wings, but can’t fly. I have webbed feet. My back is bluish-black
and my belly is white.
• You will see me going to my nest as darkness approaches and leaving
at first light.
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omnivore
forest
little pygmy possum
• My head and body are about 6cm long and I weigh only 8 grams,
that is about the same as 2 pens! The second part of my name
means ‘small’.
• I have a prehensile tail, which I use to wrap around branches and to
help me climb.
• I eat insects, spiders small lizards, as well as the nectar and pollen
from flowers.
• I am a very small, nocturnal marsupial. I have large ears and eyes to
help me in the dark. I spend a lot of my time close to the ground in
dense vegetation to avoid being eaten by owls.
• I am an excellent swimmer. I eat fish, squid and small crustaceans, such
as shrimps.
Wild ThingZ QuiZ
What am I? Wild ThingZ QuiZ
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carnivore
coastal
hooded plover
• I am an endangered species.
• My nest is a scrape in the dry sand, sometimes near seaweed. I lay 2 or
3 eggs with spots on them.
• I have a black head, pale greyish-brown back and white belly, with red
on my beak. I am about 20cm long.
• I am a little bird that can be seen running along ocean beaches – often
in pairs.
• I live on the beach. I am easily disturbed by humans, dogs, horses and
four-wheel drive vehicles.
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herbivore
forest, grassland
Tasmanian pademelon
• My head and body are around 60cm, and I have a long tail.
• I am extinct on the mainland and am now found only in Tasmania.
• I am nocturnal and crepuscular (I come out to feed in the evenings and
early mornings). I rarely venture more than 100m from the forest edge.
During the day I shelter amongst dense vegetation.
• I live in forest and farmland. I make runways (paths) through the
vegetation. I feed on grasses, herbs and shrubs.
• My fur is a rich, dark brownish-grey colour. I have a pouch.
What am I? Wild ThingZ QuiZ
Wild ThingZ QuiZ
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omnivore
grasslands, rivers, lakes, swamps
Tasmanian native hen
• I hide my nest very well.
• I am brown and grey, with bright red eyes and a yellow-green beak.
• I do not fly, but I am a very fast runner and have been called a
‘turbo chook’.
• I live in grasslands near swamps, lakes and rivers. I only live in Tasmania.
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carnivore
coastal, rivers and lakes
water rat
• I have a white tip on my tail to help distract predators, and webbed back
feet to help me swim.
• I live near fresh or salt water, and like to hunt around gullies and creeks. I
make burrows in banks near the water.
• I am a native rodent and have about 3 or 4 young.
• I have mostly dark-brown, glossy, water-repellent fur. I have a beautiful
orange coloured belly. My head and body are about 30cm long.
• I like to scavenge and hunt for aquatic insects, sea urchins, fish, crabs, small
mammals and sometimes even ducklings. You can often see where I have
eaten meals because I leave behind a pile of crab remains and other shells.
• I am extremely noisy - with a range of loud grunts, rasping sounds and
high-pitched alarm calls. I can often be seen defending my territory.
Wild ThingZ QuiZ
What am I? Wild ThingZ QuiZ
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carnivore
widespread – mountains to coastal and urban areas
feral cat
• I have become wild because I am often dumped in the bush by humans
who no longer care for me.
• I am not a native animal. My relatives were pets.
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carnivore
widespread – mountains to coastal and urban areas
European red fox
• My tail is bushy and usually white tipped. Unfortunately I have been
recently introduced to Tasmania.
• I am not native to Australia. On the mainland I do a lot of damage
killing farm animals and many, many native animals.
• I am crafty and very smart. I find very tricky places to hide.
• I am not a fussy eater and I eat all sorts of things from berries to small
birds and native animals. I also eat chickens, ducks and lambs.
• I have sharp retractable claws which help me to climb trees.
• I can eat a lot of food including many types of insects, lizards, frogs,
small birds and small mammals.
• I have white fur under my chin, throat and belly.
• My fur is very soft and comes in many different colours.
Wild ThingZ QuiZ
What am I?
Wild ThingZ QuiZ
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