In southern Australia, they often stop eating during the colder months and then eat large amounts during spring. Being monotremes, echidnas produce young from eggs which are hatched outside their body, in the same way as birds and most reptiles. During the breeding season, a female echidna develops a simple pouch into which she lays a single egg. The egg takes about 10 days to hatch, producing a young animal which measures around 1.
The young echidna, called a puggle , is carried around in its mother's pouch for about three months, during which the female will sometimes drop it into a burrow for protection.
By the time the infant leaves the pouch, its spines have started to develop, but it still stays close to its mother and continues to suckle milk through specialised pores in the skin inside her pouch. Although they begin to eat termites and ants soon after leaving the pouch, young echidnas are often not fully weaned until they are several months old. Echidnas have been known to live for as long as 16 years in the wild, but generally their life span is thought to be under 10 years.
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They now need funding so they can produce a prototype hand-held device for law enforcement officers to try out. Meanwhile, Alexandra Summerell has developed a lab test that uses mitochondrial DNA obtained from the root of short-beaked echidna quills to determine whether an animal originated in, say, New Guinea or Australia. She has validated the test to ensure its consistency, making it acceptable as evidence in court cases.
Summerell says her research results suggest that the test will also be able to pinpoint the particular region an echidna came from. The next step will be to use findings about the pedigree of short-beaked echidnas to assess relationships among individuals and to tell if echidnas have come from the same breeder. Summerell wants to extend the test to determine the provenance of critically endangered Western long-beaked echidnas , one of which was found recently during an animal seizure in the Philippines.
Importing countries must be more stringent in enforcing regulations and controls. The U. That would be the responsible thing to do. Additionally, Shepherd says, importers and buyers of short-beaked echidnas should educate themselves about wildlife laundering and illegal sourcing before they acquire them.
Short-beaked echidnas are not endangered now, but taking animals from the wild could lead to that. All rights reserved. What, you might ask, is a puggle? Follow her on Twitter. Wildlife Watch is an investigative reporting project between National Geographic Society and National Geographic Partners focusing on wildlife crime and exploitation. Send tips, feedback, and story ideas to ngwildlife natgeo. Share Tweet Email.
Why it's so hard to treat pain in infants. This wild African cat has adapted to life in a big city. The Short-beaked Echidna is found throughout Australia, including Tasmania. Although it is found all over Australia, it is not as common in Sydney as it once was. Using its pointed snout and sharp claws, the Short-beaked Echidna breaks into ant and termite nests and catches its prey by flicking its long sticky tongue in and out. It also catches a lot of dirt in the process and this is expelled in the droppings.
Like the Platypus, the Short-beaked Echidna is an egg-laying mammal or monotreme and lays one egg at a time. The eggs hatch after about 10 days and the young, emerge blind and hairless.
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