An amazing trick: why echidnas do not die during wildfires in Australia

Australia is an amazing place where natural fires are as much a part of the landscape as kangaroos or eucalyptus trees. Due to the hot and dry climate, fires in shrubbery or eucalyptus forests occur very often. But, as it turned out, not only local plant species, but also some animals are adapted to such difficult conditions. For example, echidna, who do not flee, but have mastered a unique way to survive in a fire without consequences for life and health. Echidhins can not only survive the fire, but also exist safely after it, when there is neither water nor small invertebrates around which they feed. How do they do it?

Scientists have long noticed that echidna have some kind of secret that allows them to survive natural fires without problems. But these are very secretive animals, and biologists for a long time could not figure out how the vipers manage to save their lives when everything around them turns to ashes. In order to solve this mystery, they had to put on several sensors on experimental animals and provoke a controlled fire.

It turned out that at the sight of an approaching fire, amazing animals simply hibernate. They are looking for a convenient hollow in a tree, a shelter in a felling area or just dig a hole and burrow underground. After the echidna found herself in a safe haven, she falls into suspended animation. Body temperature drops, breathing, palpitations and other vital processes slow down. This condition lasts for some time after the fire, as the vipers simply have nothing to do in the devastated area. They will simply starve to death, since there is no small living creature in the scorched forest and the echidna are completely devoid of food. After the first insects and other small animals appear on the site of the extinct fire, the echidna leave their hibernation state and return to normal life.

Sometimes the echidna’s shelter is not very reliable, and then their body suffers a little from the fire. Australian scientists have repeatedly met animals that had burnt thorns. But biologists believe that the loss of thorns does not cause them physical suffering, since the spikes are nothing more than hair, which has a slightly unusual appearance. After some time, they grow back, returning the echidna to its original form.

The evolution of the echidnas took place in Australia, and constant forest fires led to the formation of such an amazing defense mechanism. Hibernation is a very convenient way of resisting fires, which not only ensures the safety of life, but also allows you to significantly save time and energy. One can only admire how echidna successfully fit into the Australian realities of life.