Massive Rescue Effort for Baby Echidna

This little baby Echidna was rescued from beside a highway in Australia. There was a large coordinated effort to transport the tiny animal name Muggles to receive care at the Australia Zoo. The trip included two flight and thousands of miles over 4 days to reach Queensland where the zoo is located.

Echindas have features of porcupines, hedge hogs, and ant eaters. The most interesting part of this species is the reproductive process as described below by the San Diego Zoo:
“An adult female echidna usually lays a single egg once a year. The leathery egg is about the size of a grape. The female rolls the newly laid egg into a deep pocket, or pouch, on her belly to keep it safe. Ten days later the baby echidna, called a puggle, hatches. The puggle uses its tiny, see-through claws to grip the special hairs within the mother’s pouch. The mother does not have nipples the way other mammals do. Instead, the little puggle laps up milk that the mother’s body secretes from special glands in her pouch.”

For more information on the Echidna visit the following link;