Top 5 Wildlife Experiences at Wilsons Promontory
Wilsons Promontory National Park is a wildlife wonderland. The forests, wetlands and grassy fields provide homes for numerous species of Australian native animals and a trip to The Prom is a great way to encounter some Aussie favourites including kangaroos, wallabies and emus. Here are our Top 5 wildlife experiences at Wilsons Promontory.
Keeping up with the Kangaroos
Perhaps the most famous of Aussie animals, the bounding kangaroo is a sight to see! Lucky then, that there are so many of them in the Wilsons Promontory National Park. A visit to the Wildlife Walk is the best way to find them. In the evenings they are likely to be moving about and eating the grass. At other times during the day, look for them lying in the shade under the trees. Kangaroos live in groups, called ‘mobs’. There is usually one dominant male, a few younger males, and a lot of females as part of the mob. So as a general rule, if you see one kangaroo, you should take a look around, because you are likely to see many more!
Eyeballing an Emu
There’s not many places close to Melbourne that you can see emus in the wild, but Wilsons Prom is one of them. These flightless birds are the largest Australian native birds, with long, powerful legs that give them the ability to run at speeds of up to 50 kilometers per hour. However, at the Prom Wildlife Walk you are more likely to come across them grazing peacefully in the wild. It’s never a good idea to get too close though, as their strong legs also give them a powerful kick which they use to keep predators at bay.
Watching for Wombats
Visitors who come to Wilsons Promontory to camp are usually warned about the wombats. They are not ferocious animals, nor are they a threat to humans. But if you leave food outside your tent at night you may have a visit from a hungry wombat who doesn’t have any respect for your belongings. These nocturnal animals live in burrows all around the national park. In the daytime you may be able to see their burrow entrance, but the wombats themselves will be tucked inside asleep. In the early evening and at night they are wandering about eating the grass (and raiding people’s campsites).
Nature and Wildlife shoot | December 2018 | Mark Watson
A relative of the kangaroos, wallabies are smaller, more solitary creatures that are not so easy to spot. While they are similar in many ways to kangaroos, they prefer to live on their own instead of in mobs. They also forage in the forest and bushland for food instead of living in open grassy areas. This means when you head out to explore the bushland trails around Wilson Prom, you might be lucky to spot a wallaby. Many visitors have been pleasantly surprised to walk around a trail bend and come across one of these cute little creatures staring up at them.
Hearing the Cockatoos Call
The abundance of native trees and shrubs in this national park make it a perfect home for many species of native Australia birds. In the early evening you can hear the calls of flocks of cockatoos piercing through the air. The Sulphur-crested Cockatoos with their distinctive white feathers and yellow crest are the most common to be seen, However if you’re lucky you may also spot the more rare Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo; with colourings exactly as their name describes.
What did you think of our top 5 wildlife experiences at Wilsons Promontory? If spotting these creatures in their natural habitat sounds like fun, then check out our Wilsons Promontory Tour. When our tours start back up again, be sure to join us to explore the beautiful surrounds of this national park, and meet the Aussie animals that call the Prom home.