It is not only animals and plants that are in a danger of disappearing from our planet in the face of the industrial ‘advanced’ nations. There are many races of people that have survived in a very simple, stable way of life for many centuries only to be threatened with destruction in the space of a few decades. A good …

Box Kite Construction – First seen in the sky above Sydney, Australia in 1893, box kites have flown a long way since then. In kite history they say, even the Wright brothers flew kites to learn the principles of aerodynamics before their maiden mechanical flight. The best way to learn about aerodynamics is to fly kites and if done safely …

Mammals are creatures who give birth to their young ones as opposed to other animals who lay eggs. Birds, reptiles and insects lay eggs. But as with every other rule, this one has an exception too. An exceptional exception The duck-billed platypus of Australia walks out of fresh waters to build its nest on the ground. But it has retained …

The sleepiest animal, considered by the average number of hours of sleep a day is the koala, an arboreal animal with the scientific name Phascclarctos Cinerus, found only in Australia. Though it resembles a teddy bear, scientifically it is close to kangaroos, because it carries its young in a pouch. It lives mostly on eucalyptus trees, sleeping in the fork …

This enormous mound in northern Australia houses a termite colony. It is made of chewed up vegetable pulp mixed with earth and cemented together to form a hard protective home for the termites. Inside they live within a maze of air conditioned tunnels for they are able to regulate the temperature and humidity inside the mound. Termites are social insects. …

Most fish breathe by extracting oxygen from water, by means of their gills. Gills are delicate filaments of tissue through which blood passes. As water flows over the gills, oxygen diffuses into the blood. However, some fish have an additional method of obtaining oxygen; they use a lung, just as we do. Fish which breathe in this way are, not …

The dingo is one of the very few dogs in the world that is unable to bark. It is not a silent dog, however, as it makes up for not barking by howling and whining very loudly indeed. Dingoes are a very ancient breed of wild dog from Australia. They are probably quite closely related to the primitive dogs from …

In some countries, business owners can go their way in the happy knowledge that government officials won’t be hitting them up for bribes or tossing them in jail on trumped-up charges. But in other parts of the world, public sector corruption is a fact of life. Hoping to shine a light on this widespread problem, Transparency International, a non-governmental organization …

When it rains butterflies settle on the stems of flowers or stalks of grass. They hang head downwards with their wings folded together over their backs. Most butterflies are difficult to see when their wings are closed, because the undersides have only pale colors and fain patterns. There are about 10,000 known species of butterfly. They range in size from …

The parakeets are a widespread group of small Old World parrots. Best known is the Grass Parakeet or Budgerigar which is popular as a cage bird in so many homes. Budgerigars come from Australia. Large, chattering flocks feed among the grasses of the wide, inland plains. They eat the seeds of a variety of grasses, the fresh shoots of plants …