13/08/2025
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Echidna breeding season is underway and they are out and about in high numbers.
Echidnas have thousands of electroreceptors in their snouts that sense vibrations and help the native animals snuffle for food, similar to a platypus.
Echidnas should never be relocated.
Moving an echidna away from its home range can result in:
1. Disorientation and Stress
Echidnas know their home territory well—where to find food, shelter, and how to avoid predators. If moved, they can become stressed and disoriented, leading them to wander aimlessly or try to return home.
2. Starvation
In a new area, echidnas may not find familiar food sources (like ants and termites), leading to malnutrition or starvation.
3. Increased Risk of Death
When trying to return to their original home (which they often attempt), echidnas may cross dangerous roads, encounter unfamiliar predators, or die from exhaustion or dehydration.
4. Breeding Season Concerns
During breeding season, male echidnas roam long distances to find mates, and females prepare nesting burrows. Relocating them during this time can disrupt their natural behaviors and reproductive success.
5. Babies at Home
Female echidnas can have young in burrows that they leave alone while they go out to forage for food and it is critical that they are able to return. If they are ‘rescued’ or contained by well-meaning people while they are away from their young it can leave a young puggle to starve to death in the burrow.
What to Do Instead -
If an echidna is in danger (e.g., on a road or construction site):
* Do not handle echidnas unless absolutely necessary, and avoid using tools like shovels to move them
* Move it just off the road or out of immediate harm in the same direction it was going.
* Do not take it far from where you found it.
* Contact a local wildlife rescue if you're unsure or if injured
📷 Echidna CSI /ABC News
