Crocodile eyes: Estuarine Crocodile Kakadu National Park Janine Duffy Estimated reading time: 9 minutes Crocodile eyes are amongst the most complex and sophisticated of all animals. These precision organs adjust instantly, in or out of water, by day or night or for near or distant vision. Attached to one of the world’s oldest and most efficient predators, can they help control feral pigs in Australia’s tropics? And is the crocodile friend or foe? Crocodile eyes : “super” organs for hunting pigs To humans, crocodile eyes lack expression. They appear unfocussed, without depth or emotion. Yet wi ..read more

Tim Dolby to lead Mungo Outback trip in May Estimated reading time: 3 minutes BOOK NOW to join well known bird and wildlife guide, Tim Dolby, who will lead our 6 day wildlife and culture tour into Mungo and Hattah Kulkyne National Parks this May. On this Conservation Travel trip you will help nature and learn directly from Aboriginal People. Let Tim Dolby guide you in May Don’t miss this opportunity to join one of Australia’s top wildlife guides Tim is well known to many birdwatchers throughout Australia — and the world. He’s guided all over Australia and written books about birdwatching incl ..read more

The Magic of Mungo’s Song : listening in the dunes – Photo Echidna Walkabout Estimated reading time: 7 minutes Mungo sings its own magical songs. First you see this ancient landscape, then you feel it in your soul. But then the wind moves and you hear it singing in the pines, whispering through the saltbush, bending the spear-grass, drifting with the sand….. Poems that search for Mungo’s magic songs Barry Wenke does his best to be positive…which, dare I say it, is a good sign in an older man! So he writes positive poems expressing his thoughts and motivation for travel. They are refreshingly ..read more

Birgit Bourne (AGT) & Roger Smith (EWNT) – defining move for travel Estimated reading time: 5 minutes Australian Geographic Travel (AGT) acquires Echidna Walkabout Nature Tours (EWNT) creating Australia’s first end-to-end Conservation Travel, Citizen Science & Wildlife Touring Agency. Defining move for Conservation Travel in Australia Message from Roger Smith : General Manager Echidna Walkabout Dear friends, guests, supporters and industry colleagues. I’m thrilled to announce an exciting merger between Australian Geographic Travel (AGT) and Echidna Walkabout Nature Tours (EWNT). This ..read more

Red Kangaroos (female & male) at Mungo National Park (photo: Martin Maderthaner) Read time: 6 minutes Help us choose the BEST kangaroo image. Last year we asked you to help us decide the best 3 images out of 13 images of kangaroos. You have whittled the images down to 3. Now we need your help to choose the BEST kangaroo photo. Find out how to do that at the end of this story… Background to our search for the best kangaroo photo Last year we selected 13 images of kangaroos and asked you to choose the best 3 images. We hoped we’d be able to give you an answer on your choices by the mid ..read more

A tiny seahorse adrift in the Indian Ocean at Ningaloo (photo: Sara Barbieri) Estimated reading time: 9 minutes “A 6 metre whale shark has passed by and swam through this frame. A second later my eyes have to focus on something much closer and much smaller this time, because now there is a 3cm seahorse drifting by… impavid, its tail curled up and unusually not wrapped around something. The Ocean and all of its big and tiny inhabitants. That’s what I’ll never cease to love.” Sara Barbieri A deep love of all things marine — and tiny seahorses When I first met Sara Barbieri she said something I ..read more

Citizen Science in action – scoping for birds on the Ningaloo Coast (pic: Roger Smith) Estimated reading time: 6 minutes Can genuine citizen science projects fulfil a desire to make holidays more meaningful? Recent research has revealed a huge shift towards protecting nature from human pressures. Here’s how travellers can give back to nature Crested Pigeons at sea: Citizen Science project in action Our touring boat was 10 kilometres from the nearest land heading north on Exmouth Gulf between North-west Cape and the Muiron Islands in Ningaloo Coast World Heritage Area, Western Australia. Then ..read more

End of an era : the You Yangs as a back drop to Serendip Sanctuary (pic: Echidna Walkabout Nature Tours) MEDIA RELEASE – embargoed until 8am 26th April, 2023 After 30 years, local wildlife tour operator, Echidna Walkabout, has pulled out of the You Yangs region and the Great Ocean Road describing Parks Victoria’s attitude t0wards wildlife tourism as naïve, ill informed, out of touch and belligerent. Five years ago Parks Victoria began working on its “You Yangs Precinct Master Plan”. Echidna Walkabout says the final Plan seriously misjudged the value of tourism to Lara and Geelong meaning that ..read more

Love letters from Ningaloo (pic: Sara Barbieri, Ningaloo AUSTRALIA) Read time: 4 minutes We speculate on whether Whale Shark have sex in the cold and dark 2000 metres below sea level – have Japanese scientists stumbled across the answer to this ongoing conundrum? But first, Tim Winton, acclaimed Australian author, has produced a powerful new TV series about the significance of the Ningaloo Coast World Heritage Area. Ningaloo : a refuge in grand isolation “Where the desert has its feet in the sea” is how Tim Winton describes Ningaloo in his documentary, “Ningaloo Nyinggulu”, about a place that ..read more

? WHALESHARK: feeding near surface, Ningaloo (pic: Chiara Busini) Read time: 8 minutes Here’s five of the most amazing new facts about Whale Sharks. It’s well known that whale sharks are huge, gentle fish that eat plankton and travel the world. But little else is known about this ocean giant, though scientists and tour operators are working fast to change that. New information and discoveries are emerging constantly about Rhincodon typus. New Fact 1. Whale Sharks recover quickly from wounds and may even regrow parts of their bodies. Whalesharks spend a lot of time at the surface, and occa ..read more