Illustration by Dawn Cooper
1. Wedge-tailed eagle, Tarkine Wilderness
![Wedge-tailed eagle (Aquila audax), Australias largeset bird of prey, 105 cm long, wingspan to 230 cm. Peron Peninsula, Western Australia](https://c02.purpledshub.com/uploads/sites/62/2018/09/623_Getty20Wedge-Tailed20Eagle2028Auscape29-c986974.jpg?webp=1&w=1200)
Wedge-tailed eagle © Auscape / Getty
This wilderness, which is one of the last substantial tracts of temperate rainforest left in the country, is dominated by moss-clad myrtle and towering pine trees. Look out for the endemic subspecies of Australia's largest bird of prey soaring above them.
2. Common wombat, Narwntapu National Park
![AUSTRALIA, Tasmania, Maria Island National Park Common wombat YEAR: 2007 No model or property releases](https://c02.purpledshub.com/uploads/sites/62/2018/09/623_Getty20Common20Wombat2028Andrew20Bain29-db17c30.jpg?webp=1&w=1200)
Common wombat © Andrew Bain / Getty
Described as Australia's Serengeti, Narawntapu's open grasslands are famed for their huge numbers of placidly grazing marsupials.
3. Platypus, Scottsdale
![623_Getty20Platypus2028Kevin20Schafer29-58abc41](https://c02.purpledshub.com/uploads/sites/62/2018/09/623_Getty20Platypus2028Kevin20Schafer29-58abc41.jpg?webp=1&w=1200)
Platypus © Kevin Schafer / Getty
It lays eggs, has a duck-like bill and sports enormous spurs on its back legs - it's perhaps not surprising that the first scientists to examine a platypus thought it was a hoax.
4. Tasmanian devil, Bicheno
![623_Getty20Tasmanian20Devil2028Eric20Bean29-59b798e](https://c02.purpledshub.com/uploads/sites/62/2018/09/623_Getty20Tasmanian20Devil2028Eric20Bean29-59b798e.jpg?webp=1&w=1200)
Tasmanian devil © Eric Bean / Getty
It may be the ultimate after-dark experience for wildlife lovers - watching the world's largest surviving carnivorous marsupial tearing chunks out of a wallaby carcass.
5. White wallaby, South Bruny
![White albino wallaby, Bruny Island, Tasmania, Australia](https://c02.purpledshub.com/uploads/sites/62/2018/09/623_Getty20White20Wallaby2028Australian20Scenics29-730fd4f.jpg?webp=1&w=1200)
White wallaby © Australian Scenics / Getty
A trip to the south side of Bruny's Adventure Bay is like Alice's journey into Wonderland, only the white 'rabbits' are considerably larger and actually rare morphs of the common-as-much Bennett's wallaby.
6. Orange-bellied parrot, Southwest National Park
![The rare and endangered Orange-Bellied Parrot ( Neophema chrysogaster ) Migrates across Bass Strait between Tasmania and Southeast Australia.](https://c02.purpledshub.com/uploads/sites/62/2018/09/623_Getty20Orange-Bellied20Parrot2028Ted20Mead29-559c550.jpg?webp=1&w=1200)
Orange-bellied parrot © Ted Mead / Getty
This rare and unusual parrot migrates between southern Australia and the southern tip of Tasmania to breed - you might be lucky enough to spot one from a bird hide at Melaleuca between October and March.