Wildlife living in and around the Cairns and Atherton Tablelands
ROCK WALLABYS (seen from Hot Air Balloon Cairns flights)
A highlight of your hot air balloon Cairns ride is experiencing Australia's northern savannah wilderness and often seeing Rock Wallaby's, with a curious look on their face, looking up at the balloons.
Keep a keen eye out from our hot air balloon and look close to see in the wild rock wallabies and wildlife in their natural habitat. The Mareeba unadorned rock wallabies (Petrogale inornata, Mareeba race) are wonderful to see.
The wallabies are unique to this area of Mareeba. They are known to be on the top of a couple of mountain ranges. Possums, 5 types of gliders, Frilled necked and other lizards, 2 types of quolls, turtles and echidnas also inhabit this region.
For those with a real scienctic interest, the Mareeba rock-wallaby (Petrogale mareeba) is a species of rock-wallaby found in north eastern Queensland, Australia. It is a member of a group of seven very closely related species which also include the Cape York rock-wallaby (P. coenensis), the unadorned rock-wallaby (P. inornata) and the allied rock-wallaby (P. assimilis).
Seeing a rock wallaby on your hot air balloon ride is really an amazing, and unique Australian experience.
GREEN TREE FROGS
With large flat fingers and toe discs, the Green Tree Frog can be found regularly all over the tropical region we float over. Unfortunately, you wont see them from your balloon but they are an important part of our eco system.
In March, breeding begins, and the male frogs’ deep calls to females can be heard across the region.
This particular frog species can grow up to 10cm (4 inches) in length and is often found on the underside of leaves. However, you need to look closely to find one of these frogs as they change colour to camouflage themselves in their surroundings, often ranging from brown to green.
With the Northern Tropical Queensland weather our region thrives on, Green Tree Frogs tend to hide in the day in moist areas, as their skin needs to be continuously damp. So, you are more likely to catch a glimpse of the Green Tree Frog at night. This is when the predominately nocturnal frogs come out.